Reaction to effectiveness of US operation contrasts with loss of key ally for Putin, whose priority remains Ukraine

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A surprise raid on the capital in the dead of night, ending with the capture of the country’s leader. By the following day, the invading power announces it will rule the nation for an indefinite period.

That was how Vladimir Putin envisaged his full-scale invasion of Ukraine playing out in February 2022. Instead, it was Donald Trump who pulled it off in Venezuela, in an operation condemned by many as illegal, whisking away the Kremlin’s historic ally Nicolás Maduro, who now faces trial in New York.