The New York Times corroborated open-source intelligence in reporting issued between 10:15 p.m. and 10:45 p.m. UTC on January 6 that five MH-60M helicopters and one MH-47G from U.S. Special Operations Command's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment arrived at RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom, accompanied by a logistical buildup and dozens of U.S. personnel, as U.S. Navy and Coast Guard assets shadow the Russia-flagged tanker MV Marinara off the UK's northwest coast. A NOTAM at RAF Mildenhall related to fast-rope training involved five U.S. Air Force CV-22 aircraft present in the UK but was unrelated to the SOAR deployment, per the Times report cited by @FaytuksNetwork on X. Russian bloggers claimed today that Russian naval forces will meet the MV Marinara, previously known as Bella 1, in the Baltic Sea within 48 hours, according to @prestonstew_ on X. The vessel has evaded U.S. authorities for weeks after turning back from Venezuela. The New York Times also published an article on U.S. Senator Marco Rubio and Venezuela's future, described by @LuluGNavarro on X as addressing the country's "new viceroy," amid ongoing U.S. operations following Nicolás Maduro's capture in Caracas last Saturday. These developments build on prior reports of U.S. C-17 Globemaster and AC-130 aircraft landings at UK RAF bases since Saturday and P-8A Poseidon patrols monitoring the tanker earlier Monday, as the U.S. maintains pressure on Venezuelan-linked assets.
