Ukrainian Defence Minister: Russia did not form shock troops before attacking Ukraine on 24 February

OLHA HLUSHCHENKO – THURSDAY, 11 AUGUST 2022, 06:48

Oleksii Reznikov, Minister of Defence of Ukraine, has said that Russia began its invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 without proper preparations and without having formed shock troops.

Source: Reznikov in an interview for Ukrainska Pravda

Quote: "As of 24 February, Russia did not have shock troops as is understood in military craft. This isn’t something I came up with as a lay person, it’s something that military officials and the General Staff had explained to me: to carry out an offensive, shock troops should have certain features, like proper command chains, supply systems, hospitals, logistical chains, strike groups, etc. But in all those high-risk areas that you listed, the Russians did not have any signs that shock troops were being formed.

So in reality, the Russians have mounted an offensive without forming these shock troops. We could say that this is what has allowed us to later liberate the occupied territories of Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy oblasts.

I have personally inspected all of our positions. Even during the partial encirclement, General Syrskyi and I visited our positions, presented awards to our soldiers. When I was going to Chernihiv Oblast, I asked General Nikoliuk [Commander of the Operational Command Pivnich (North) - ed.]: "What has struck you most as a military man?"

And he said that what struck him the most was how the Russians were breaking their own instructions and rules. According to the rules, first a territory is covered with artillery fire, then the tanks advance, and then the ground troops. But they were so convinced that they’d be able to just take us quickly that they’d left artillery behind and decided to capture Kyiv using their tanks and armoured personnel carriers alone, which they drove towards Brovary [an eastern suburb of Kyiv - ed.]. They brought their ceremonial uniforms with them."

Details: Reznikov stressed that the Russians were not fully prepared when they launched the February attack on Ukraine, which made it easy to interrupt their supply chains. He said that the situation was the same in Belarus.

The minister noted that it was obvious that the Russians "need more time – a week, two, three – to form their shock troops".

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