Russian military planes deliver troops and cargo to Venezuela: Sputnik

Two Russian military planes delivered troops and equipment to Venezuela over the weekend, Russian state news agency Sputnik reported Sunday.

"Two Russian planes arrived in Venezuela on Saturday with equipment and personnel to fulfill technical military contracts," the agency reported on the Spanish-language version of its website.

It gave no other details but quoted an unnamed official from the Russian embassy in Caracas saying "there is nothing mysterious" about the flights.

The Sputnik report was published after a Venezuelan journalist, Javier Mayorca, said on his Twitter feed that a Russian air force Antonov-124 cargo plane and a smaller jet, apparently an Ilyushin Il-62, had landed at the main airport outside Caracas on Saturday.

Screenshots of tweets by Venezuelan journalist Javier Mayorca.

He said the planes offloaded around 100 Russian soldiers led by General Vasily Tonkoshkurov, head of the Mobilization Directorate of Russia's armed forces, and disembarked 35 tons of equipment.

Social media and non-state Venezuelan media picked up the information and posted pictures of the planes at the airport.

One picture of a Russian-flagged aircraft posted on social media showed men in uniform clustered around the aircraft.

An AFP journalist early on Sunday saw one of the planes on the tarmac at Maiquetia airport, with a Russian flag on its fuselage. It was guarded by a contingent of Venezuelan National Guardsmen.

Venezuelan authorities offered no information about the flights. The Russian embassy in Caracas declined to comment on the reports.

(Cover: A photo of a Russian-flagged aircraft posted on social media showing men in uniform clustered around the aircraft. /Photo via Twitter @javiermayorca)

(AFP)