Former Defense Minister Reznikov explains the calming rhetoric of the authorities before the invasion

On the eve of Russia's full-scale invasion, units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were withdrawn from their permanent deployment points and dispersed across the territory of Ukraine under the guise of continuing exercises. Thanks to this, the first Russian strikes fell on empty barracks, claims former Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov.

According to him, he signed the corresponding order together with the then Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhnyi.

"At that time, I personally signed a ministerial order, taking responsibility together with General Zaluzhnyi, on the continuation of exercises for units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In this way, we withdrew all units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from their permanent deployment points," - Reznikov said.

According to him, when Russia delivered its first strikes, the barracks were already empty and the personnel were dispersed. The former minister believes that this made it possible to preserve a significant part of the military who subsequently participated in repelling the invasion.

Reznikov also explained why, on the eve of February 24, 2022, government officials publicly tried not to escalate the situation, while simultaneously carrying out preparatory measures.

"If we had publicly sowed panic, all our roads would have been clogged with traffic in one direction, and we would not have been able to move troops," - he stated.

According to Reznikov, at that time the General Staff also did not see formed Russian strike groups in the form stipulated by Russian military doctrine. According to the military's assessment, Russia might have needed at least another month to complete their formation, so a possible large-scale offensive was expected later.

The former minister also stated that, in his opinion, even Western partners were not certain that Russia would begin a full-scale invasion exactly on February 24.

As an argument, he cited the trip to Kramatorsk planned for that day together with the defense ministers of three NATO countries, who had arrived in Kyiv the day before, on February 23.

"This means they were definitely certain that no invasion would take place on the 24th," - said Reznikov.

At the same time, this is the conclusion of the former minister himself, not a confirmation of the official assessment of Western governments at that time.

Reznikov noted that he also did not expect the start of a major war exactly on February 24: his wife, children, and grandchildren remained in Kyiv. According to him, he allowed for a negative scenario, but believed that Ukraine had more time to prepare.

Based on materials from: Radio Svoboda