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Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, but was not prepared to it properly. The troops launched an offensive without forming shock groups. Ministry of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov reported this in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda.
“As of February 24, Russians did not form strike groups in the full sense of military art. I didn’t come up with this myself as a civilian, it was the military who explained to me at the level of the General Staff that a strike group for an offensive provides for certain signs: command and control agencies, security agencies, and hospitals, and logistics chains, and strike groups, etc.,” says Reznikov.
That is, according to him, in all risky zones (invasion from Belarus, offensive in the south), the Russians did not have signs of the completed formation of a large-scale strike force.
“Actually speaking, the consequence of this, including the subsequent de-occupation of the Kyiv region, Chernihiv region and Sumy region, became possible. When I advanced to the Chernihiv region, I asked General Nikolyuk (commander of South Operational Command – ed.): “What struck you the most as a military man?” And he said that what was most striking was how the Russians violated their own instructions and rules,” Reznikov notes.
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The head of the Ministry of Defense explains that according to the rules, first the artillery works out the territory, then the tanks go, and then the infantry.
“But they were so convinced that they would take us by force that they left the artillery behind them and with tanks and armored personnel carriers. And they also carried full dress with them. This means that they went on the offensive without being ready. Therefore, we cut their supply chains so easily. The same thing happened in Belarus,” Reznikov stressed.
From the point of view of military art, the Ministry of Defense saw that the Russians were not ready, and therefore they said that they needed more time to form the final strike force – a week, two, three.
“Yes, our American partners were more skeptical. But the same partners were convinced that 72 hours – and Kyiv would fall. However, this did not happen,” Reznikov summed up.
February 24, Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine along the entire length of the common border and from the territory of Belarus. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin called it a “special military operation”, in fact he declared war on Ukraine.
