The Kremlin has come up with a new version of the reasons for the invasion of Ukraine
The Kremlin has voiced a new version justifying the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russian Presidential Advisor Anton Kobyakov claimed that Russian troops allegedly 'preempted' a planned attack by the Ukrainian army on Russian territory, which, according to him, was supposed to begin on March 8, 2022.
Kobyakov made this statement in an interview with the Russian state news agency TASS.
The advisor to the Russian president claims that documents found by Russian forces after the start of the full-scale invasion in an abandoned headquarters of one of Ukraine's territorial defense brigades are evidence of the alleged plans.
"The documents found by our military back at the beginning of the special military operation in an abandoned headquarters of one of the VSU Territorial Defense brigades indicated a specific date for the invasion of Russia — March 8, 2022. We beat them to it by two weeks," Kobyakov said.
Kobyakov presented no independently confirmed evidence that Ukraine actually planned an invasion of Russian territory on March 8, 2022.
He also claimed that the Ukrainian side had allegedly intended to symbolically start the war on International Women's Day. According to Putin's advisor, the Russian leadership showed 'foresight' by starting the full-scale invasion on February 24.
Additionally, Kobyakov repeated the Russian narrative that Western countries had allegedly used the Minsk agreements only to prepare Ukraine for war.
The Kremlin's version differs from 2022 statements
It is noteworthy that Russian authorities already referred to allegedly discovered Ukrainian documents shortly after the invasion began, but at that time described their contents differently.
On March 9, 2022, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed it had obtained an order from the command of Ukraine's National Guard, which allegedly indicated preparations for a Ukrainian offensive in Donbas in March. There was no mention in that report of a planned invasion by the VSU directly into Russian territory and a specific date of March 8.
The materials published by the Russian side were later examined by independent fact-checkers. They concluded that the documents themselves did not confirm preparation for an offensive operation. They referred to the preparation of a National Guard unit for tasks within the Joint Forces Operation, including training.
Thus, Kobyakov's current statement changes the original Russian interpretation: documents that Moscow in 2022 called evidence of a planned offensive in Donbas are now presented by Putin's advisor as proof of an alleged preparation for an invasion directly into Russia.
What Putin said on February 24, 2022
The version of a Ukrainian attack on Russia on March 8 also did not appear in Vladimir Putin's address on February 24, 2022, in which he announced the start of the full-scale invasion.
At that time, Putin referred to appeals by Moscow-controlled groups in the occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions and called the goals of the war "protection of people" in Donbas, as well as the so-called "demilitarization" and "denazification" of Ukraine.
Russia began its full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, attacking Ukraine from several directions, including from Russian territory, occupied Crimea, and Belarus.
Sources: TASS, Interfax, PolitiFact, Vladimir Putin's address of February 24, 2022
