
‘Significant event’: China revealed what will happen after the withdrawal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from Avdiivka
February 19, 2024
The capture of Avdiivka allows the Russian army to free up forces for attacks on Ugledar – The New York Times
February 19, 2024Ukrainian troops were preparing for a Russian invasion for five months – since the fall of 2021.
This was stated by the new commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, Alexander Pavlyuk, in an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
According to him, when he was appointed commander of the Joint Forces Operation in July 2021, after conducting an analysis, he already understood in the fall that there was “a very high probability of a full-scale war.”
“The scale of it was still difficult to understand, but it was obvious that it would, at the very least, involve the territory of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions,” Pavlyuk said.
He added that there were all signs that the invasion would start not only from the “Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics” but also from the Russian Federation.
“Therefore, as early as fall, we began to take certain actions to successfully confront the enemy and inflict maximum damage on them. Understanding that the balance of forces and means was and will not be in our favor, but we still had no choice – we had to withstand because the whole of Ukraine was behind us. Therefore, for five months, we prepared to repel full-scale aggression,” Pavlyuk said.
According to him, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported on the preparation for the invasion in January-February 2022.
“In February, we did everything possible to meet the enemy with dignity: all positions were maximally strengthened, all possible action scenarios were calculated, all reserves were moved. We conducted a full-scale training exercise at least twice, and there were many local exercises as well,” Pavlyuk said.
It is worth reminding that the Ukrainian authorities denied the possibility of a Russian invasion until the last moment. Zelensky said that “in May, there would be kebabs.”