"Let's pray that God will protect our lives, our families, and protect Venezuela."

On January 3, it became known about the explosions in Venezuela. According to the country's Foreign Minister Ivan Gil Pinto, the United States attacked civilian and military facilities in Caracas. Due to the incident, a state of emergency was declared in the Bolivarian Republic. In addition, US President Donald Trump announced that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his family had been captured and taken out of the country. Izvestia collected monologues from witnesses of the US attack on a Latin American country.

"It seemed that the earth was shaking"

Maria, lives in Caracas with her husband and children.

— At two o'clock in the morning, we were woken up by explosions, it seemed that the earth was shaking. I could hear planes and helicopters flying, and there was a strong smell of burning in the air. Now the city is very quiet, there is no panic, there are practically no people on the streets either, only the military.

Some Venezuelans initially ran out into the streets, while others rushed to fill up their cars in order to leave the capital as soon as possible. But the authorities called on everyone to calm down and stay at home, and they also said that the military would keep order on the streets, so many did not leave because they were afraid they might be arrested when leaving the city.

I talked to the neighbors, they said they were not afraid of Trump at all, but of even greater hyperinflation, they initially wanted to go to the store, but everything was closed, besides they were afraid to go outside. People prefer not to leave their televisions, they catch any news.

We have intermittent disruptions to mobile communications and Internet access, and there are still no lights in some parts of Caracas that were hit.

"There are videos online about locals leaving the city en masse"

Anna Osipova, guide in Venezuela

— The explosions were heard, but very distantly. The kids didn't even wake up, but I warned my mom and friends that everything was fine, turned off the sound and vibration on my phone, and then fell asleep.

There is no electricity in some areas of the city, but we have it, although the news says that there is no light in our area either.

I don't know what's happening on the streets right now, we haven't come out yet. And they kind of banned me from going out today. There are videos online that locals are leaving the city en masse. I do not know, I have not personally seen, I can neither confirm nor deny.

"It's quite alarming in the city, everyone has hidden at home"

Svetlana, lives on Margarita Island

— Yesterday, my friends managed to take off from Margarita Island, they will be shocked when they land and find out that they did it a few hours before the start of the war. And new flights are scheduled for tomorrow, but they have all been canceled.

Local chat rooms are filled with messages from worried Russians who are wondering if it's realistic to fly to Moscow or St. Petersburg right now, but they won't be able to do so - flights have been canceled.

Everything is calm on our island, although there are periodic interruptions in communication and electricity. I talked to friends who live in Caracas, they say that the city is quite anxious, everyone is hiding at home, shops are closed. We have open shops, by the way, prices have not changed compared to yesterday, in general everything is quiet and peaceful.

Everyone is waiting to see how events will develop further.

"People are scared, especially children"

Alexander Karpetsky, Head of the host tour operator in Venezuela, Venezuela PRO

— The explosions sound like very powerful fireworks or thunder, but they send a powerful shock wave and the house vibrates and shakes.

Many residents were taken by surprise by the explosions, and people are scared, especially children. There is water and electricity, even the Internet is working.

Russians have always been treated well in Venezuela. The Americans, if we talk about the government, have a negative attitude. Ordinary Americans have rarely seen Americans here since they were kicked out of the country and their homes, businesses, and other assets were nationalized, similar to Cuba. For example, some hotels on Margarita were owned by large American chains.

There are many armed soldiers and people without uniforms on the streets of Caracas, the so-called "collectivos". It may be heading towards a civil war.

No one is going anywhere, everything is blocked

"It's very hard to realize"

Endrina Yepes, Venezuelan journalist and writer

— Like many people, my family woke up to the sounds of strong explosions all over Caracas. Where I live, in the upper part of the Las Mercedes neighborhood, at least four powerful explosions were clearly heard. Two of them occurred in the La Carlota area, and another in the Fort Tiuna area. People are in a panic, after these rumblings throughout the city, no one understood exactly what was happening. It looked like they were airplanes or drones, because large clouds of smoke were visible. There are at least two columns of smoke in La Carlota, they have already begun to disperse.

Of course, there is no information yet on the damage or whether there are any human casualties. To be honest, when I had to report from Israel or broadcast from conflict zones, I never thought I would be living through a similar situation here at home.

My whole family is here now, as are all of you at home on this day. And it's very hard to realize that a part of Venezuela could be attacked. May God protect us. Let's pray that God will protect our lives, our families, and protect Venezuela.