Russia has sent a chilling and brutal warning to Donald Trump over his political and military intervention in Venezuela. The country's leader Nicolas Maduro was whisked away into captivity by Delta Force troops during a bold and daring raid in the early hours of Saturday morning.

He now faces a trial in New York on charges of drugs and weapons offences, as his country faces an uncertain future. Trump declared Venezuela would be run by the US and has invited American oil companies to help themselves to the spoils. The South American country has the world's largest proved reserves of oil at 303 billion barrels.

The Kremlin has longstanding political and economic interests in Venezuela, which are now under serious threat.

Russian companies had opened several joint ventures with the country's oil monopoly, PDVSA, with Roszarubezhneft having just negotiated a new 15-year lease on two oil fields in November.

Maduro was also a key partner and ally for Vladimir Putin in Latin America, who previously helped deter US aggression during Trump's first term in office.

The Russian President sent two military aircraft with soldiers and equipment in May 2019, following a political crisis sparked by the disputed 2018 Presidential elections.

The Kremlin reacted with predictable fury over the US raid in Caracas, accusing the White House of committing "an act of armed aggression". And now Moscow has warned Trump that his military adventure in Venezuela could yet end in disaster and turn into a bloody nightmare.

In an opinion piece for the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, Andrey Baranov brought up the ghosts of past disastrous US military interventions.

"One thing is clear: if Trump rests on his laurels and loses momentum now, the whole kidnapping saga will fizzle out," he wrote. "Then the oil will have to be fought for in earnest—through actual war.

"But for the US, that could turn into a terrifying mix of Vietnam and Afghanistan. The jungles in Venezuela are no less dense than those in Indochina, and the locals there have long been skilled in guerrilla warfare."

He added that Russia and China will "find ways to defend" their interests, should they be "flagrantly violated", suggesting military intervention of their own.

"Therefore, in the event of military intervention, the Yankees will most likely garrison bases in large cities and oil fields, never once poking their noses beyond the concrete walls and rows of barbed wire, as in Afghanistan.

"And sooner or later, they will have to flee home on planes or ships."