Former commander of Ukraine’s Joint Forces shared how days preparing before Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine went by
Pravda Ukraine
Lieutenant General Serhii Naiev, former commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that on the eve of 24 February 2024, he did not receive official information from officials that Russia was preparing a full-scale invasion, but was guided by his premonitions.
Source: Serhii Naiev’s interview with Ukrainska Pravda
Details: Serhii Naiev said that even on 23 February 2024, his command post “did not receive any information from any official that there would be a war tomorrow”.
Quote from Serhii Naiev: “I am the commander of the defence forces of Ukraine. I have not received any written information that there will be a war tomorrow. My chief of intelligence, a colonel, receives information from his friends unofficially at my command post in the evening, around 22:00.
His friend sends it to him on the appropriate messenger. It’s a conversation between two Russian soldiers, and they are discussing that at 6:00 on 24 February, their Russian drone will be over the Russian convoy in Sumy Oblast.
I asked my intelligence chief: ‘Do you believe this information?’. He said: ‘I cannot confirm or deny it’. With some inner conviction, in the midst of these events, I communicated with my commanders and experienced the situation. I picked up the phone and told the 7 commanders again that I was convinced that the Russian Federation would launch a large-scale invasion at 4:00 on the 24th of the month [February]. Therefore, in the remaining time, you must take such measures to be ready to repel this armed aggression in the morning.”
Details: Former commander of Ukraineʼs Joint Forces said that the actions that took place in that short time frame “were the result, firstly, of the initiative, independent decisions of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Zaluzhnyi [Valerii – ed.], me as the Commander of the defence forces of Ukraine, and other commanders who took this initiative”.
Naiev also said that on 23 February, he decided to place mines in the Black Sea despite the fact that there was no legal regime of martial law at the time. He stressed that he only had a “premonition” of an invasion, not facts that it would happen.
Quote from Serhii Naiev: “On that night of the 23rd, I decided to place sea mines in the Black Sea along the coast of Mykolaiv and Odesa oblasts. Without any right to their use, without the legal regime of martial law. On the night of 23-24, Ukrainian warships entered the sea and placed these minefields.”
Background: Lieutenant General Serhii Naiev, former commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, commented on the trials of former commanders suspected of negligence that enabled the Russians to seize part of the territory of Kharkiv Oblast in May 2024, saying that “trials of military leaders during the war are unacceptable.”
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