Sema Fonkem 12 May 2026

If you are pondering why ‘friends’ of Russia always end up in American captivity, welcome to the club of deep thoughts of world politics.

After several incidents, it has become difficult for the regular guy to trust Russia to protect its allies, for some unknown reason, any leader associated with Russia ends being killed by an American bullet or ends up in a US jail cell.

List of examples

1. Venezuela

In January 2026, U.S. Delta Force captured the Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in a special operation in Venezuela, representing a major blow to Russia’s allies in Latin America.

2. Syria

Although Russia’s former ally, ex president of Syria was not captured or killed by US navy, Bashar al-Assad’s regime collapsed in December 2024 and him and his family were given asylum by Russia. To top it all, Russia has now formed an alliance with the new government led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa who took over power in early 2025. President Donald Trump never liked Bashar al-Assad and referred to al-Sharaa as a ‘tough guy’ after Syrian government transition.

3. Libya

Before Muammar Gaddafi was captured and killed by US soldiers in 2011, Libya and Russia enjoyed a long term relationship dating back to 2000s. In the same year of Gaddaffi’s capture, Russia’s president at the time Medvedev joined the G8 countries which deemed Gaddafi weak and irrelevant.

4. Iraq

Before Saddam Hussein was executed by hanging on December 30, 2006, in Baghdad, Iraq, he had a long term relationship with the Soviet Union to present day Russia, characterised by massive arms deals, economic ties and diplomatic support against western powers. When Hussein was captured on December. 13, 2003, in a “spider hole” near Tikrit, Russia was nowhere to be found. Their friendship picked up a strain when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990.

5. Panama

In 1990, president Manuel Noriega of Panama was seized during Operation Just Cause following the U.S. invasion of Panama and subsequently tried for drug trafficking in the U.S. During the Cold War, while appearing as a useful regional partner to the United States in fighting against the Soviet-allied Sandinista government in Nicaragua, Noriega acted as a double agent. He passed classified information to communist regimes and sold arms to the Soviet Union.