Russian General Who Blew Up the Kakhovka Dam Is Training Venezuela’s Military

The Russian general who, in June 2023, organized the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant is heading the Russian mission responsible for training Venezuela’s military.

Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, Рead of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, shared this in a comment to The War Zone.

According to the intelligence chief, Russia continues to maintain its own military contingent in Latin America and is expanding its cooperation with the Nicolás Maduro regime. At present, a Russian contingent of more than 120 service members is stationed in this Latin American country.

They are led by Colonel General Oleg Makarevich, the commander of the so-called “Equator” operational group of the Russian Ministry of Defense. He is the one overseeing the training of Venezuelan security forces. During the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he commanded the “Dnepr” military grouping. And it was he who, in June 2023, organized the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant.

“They serve as military advisers and instructors. This includes training infantry, special units, UAV operators, as well as work related to intelligence and communications,” Kyrylo Budanov noted.

In addition to training military personnel, the Russian “Equator” operational group provides Venezuela with signals intelligence data. Russia is also helping Venezuela monitor internal factions and foreign governments.

The Head of Ukrainian intelligence emphasized that the rotation of Russian forces in Venezuela has been ongoing for many years and is not a “response” to the current escalation between the United States and Venezuela.

The general and about 90 Russians are stationed in Caracas, while the rest are located at facilities in Maracaibo, La Guaira, and on Avedes Island.

“Russian units will likely remain in Venezuela even if the United States decides on a military course of action. Russia will try to speak directly with Washington, using the presence of its troops in the country as cover,” he emphasized.

In early November, it became known that in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, military cadets began training to operate FPV drones using simulators.

The training stations use one of the most popular commercial simulators, FPV Kamikaze Drone, available on Steam.

This is the first publicly known instance of Venezuela confirming work on introducing FPV drones into its military. Venezuela is one of the few countries in Latin America – likely the only one – that openly demonstrates the existence of an active program to train its cadets to operate FPV drones.