
Two Russian military planes landed in Venezuela's main airport on Saturday, reportedly carrying dozens of troops and large amounts of equipment. The planes were sent to “fulfill technical military contracts”, Russia's Sputnik news agency reported.

Thousands of people in Russia have protested against plans to introduce tighter restrictions on the internet. A mass rally in Moscow and similar demonstrations in two other cities were called after parliament backed the controversial bill last month.

The US government on Friday announced criminal charges against a top official in Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government for violating sanctions imposed two years ago, when the official was accused of drug trafficking.

The United States and Russia clashed on Friday over how to assist ailing Venezuela, with Moscow pledging new relief channelled through President Nicolas Maduro and Washington slapping sanctions over the blocking of US aid it tried to force through the border.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay, Rodolfo Nin Novoa, ratified his position on Friday on a peaceful solution to the political and institutional crisis suffered by Venezuela along with his Italian counterpart, Enzo Moavero Milanesi in Montevideo. The Uruguayan chancellor questioned the attitude of the secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, considering that he took sides on the Venezuelan conflict.

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez announced at a press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that the central office of state oil company PDVSA in Europe, located in Lisbon, will move to Moscow to guarantee the security of the country's assets abroad, which were delivered to the Venezuelan Parliament in other countries.

Dozens of orcas and beluga whales captured for sale to ocean aquariums have brought Russia's murky trade into the spotlight, but efforts to free them are blocked by government infighting.

Russian lender Gazprombank has frozen the accounts of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA and halted transactions with the firm to reduce the risk of the bank falling under US sanctions, according to Reuters.

Venezuela should honour its debt obligations to Russia despite the political situation in Caracas, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Thursday. ”Russia hopes that Venezuela, even in case of a change of power in the country, will fulfil its obligations under the debt to Russia, Siluanov told reporters on the sidelines of the Russian Investment Forum in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Russia said on Tuesday it was ready to facilitate the start of dialogue between Venezuela's government and opposition, but warned the United States against intervening in Caracas' internal affairs.