Ukrainian Armed Forces were preparing to defend Ukraine five months prior to Russian attack
Ukraine's Defense Forces were preparing to repel a full-scale invasion by Russia five months before the war began, said Land Forces Commander Oleksandr Pavliuk in an interview with Radio Svoboda on Feb. 18.
Pavliuk said that he had been appointed Commander of the Joint Forces Operation in July 2021. By fall of that year, he realized, there was "a very high probability that there would be a full-scale war."
Read also: Ukraine had enough resources for 2.5 months of active fighting in February 2022 — Reznikov
"It was still difficult to understand its scale, but it was obvious that it would at least take over the territory of the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts,” the commander said.
“So we analyzed the enemy's actions, its respective preventive measures, the intelligence operations that they carried out in occupied territories, along the entire contact line, along the border."
According to him, it was clear that Russians would advance not only from the temporarily occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, but also from the territory of Russia.
Read also: Ukrainian troops pull out of Avdiivka for strategic repositioning — Syrskyi
He said that in January-February 2022, the Armed Forces received telegrams from HUR about the possible outbreak of a full-scale Russian war against Ukraine.
"In February, we did everything possible to meet the enemy with fire and sword: all positions were reinforced as much as possible, all possible options were calculated, all reserves were moved — we conducted full-scale training at least twice, and a lot of local training was also conducted," Pavliuk added.
The commander stated that this probably played a decisive role in our victories at the beginning of the invasion.
"On the first day, when all our command centers, all our control points, and all the places where our troops and warehouses were supposed to be concentrated were attacked, but these attacks hit nothing," he added.
The possibility of Pavliuk's appointment to this position was reported the day before, when he was dismissed from the post of First Deputy Defense Minister.
We’re bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!
Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
