US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Sunday that the US military conducted a lethal strike on a vessel operated by a drug trafficking organization in the Caribbean, killing three men aboard.
The operation, directed by President Donald Trump and carried out in international waters, targeted a vessel known to be carrying narcotics along a smuggling route, with no US forces harmed, Hegseth said in a social media post.
Russia's foreign ministry had denounced on Saturday "excessive military force" by the United States in the Caribbean Sea deployed as part of a drive against drug trafficking and reaffirmed its support for Venezuela's leaders.
"We firmly denounce the use of excessive military force in carrying out actions in anti-drugs operations," foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a commentary on her ministry's website.
"Such actions are in violation of both US domestic legislation...and the norms of international law."
In her comments, Zakharova said Russia, "confirms our firm support for the Venezuelan leadership in defending its national sovereignty."
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Venezuela's illegitimate president Nicolas Maduro signed a strategic partnership agreement in Moscow in May. Russia benefits by having a failed state on the US' doorstep.
Maduro has repeatedly alleged that the United States is hoping to drive him from power.
(Reporting by Bipasha Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Jamie Freed and Rod Nickel)
