Russian pro-war 'Z-bloggers' voiced severe concerns over Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's declaration of a state of emergency, warning of crashing oil prices that would cripple Russia's economy and shadow fleet operations, according to a post by Anton Gerashchenko on X between 1:15 PM and 2:15 PM UTC on January 3, 2026. Gerashchenko quoted the bloggers stating that low oil prices would soon make Russian extraction unprofitable, leading to starvation, economic checkmate, and calls for political leadership changes. Maduro's announcement, confirmed by Venezuela’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called for mobilization amid a struggle for Venezuelan oil control. The post highlighted Russia's role through Rosneft investments in Venezuela, which supported Maduro's regime, and the mixing of Russian and Venezuelan oil sold via the shadow fleet as third-country products to evade sanctions. A potential rapid regime change under U.S. President Donald Trump would complicate these operations, Gerashchenko noted. Separately, over the past hour, the Radar Russia Telegram channel reported dangers from UAVs in Russia's Azov and Krasnodar regions, according to a post linking to @radarrussiia. The Ukrainian єRadar channel forecasted standard Russian attack capabilities for the next two days, including up to 10 Tu-95MS bombers, three Tu-160s, nine MiG-31K aircraft, 500 Shahed-type UAVs, and 12 ballistic missiles targeting western regions such as Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, and Rivne, urging residents to shelter and prepare.
