The commander of the Ukrainian Navy, Igor Voronchenko, said that he was unpleasantly surprised by the behavior of the Crimeans in the spring of 2014, since before that local residents considered themselves Ukrainians, went to demonstrations under Ukrainian flags and celebrated Ukrainian holidays.
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“In just five days, the information field was turned upside down, and people were furious with what they were watching and listening to. It was wild for me to see this euphoria on March 16, the referendum. Those who carried state flags on May 9, the Independence Day of Ukraine, who sang the anthem of Ukraine, who said that Ukrainians - then stood near our units - “get away from us”, obscene language. There were even episodes when the Russian anthem was played near my headquarters at 2 am. “Khokhol, when will you leave for your own Ukraine?” That's what's most offensive.
And those officers with whom I served together in the 32nd Army Corps stood against me with machine guns, took pictures, pointed fingers, although on February 23, a year before, they celebrated this day together and recalled their joint service. For me, I will never forget this feeling,” the Ukrainian naval commander said in an interview with Odessa Channel 7.
Voronchenko clarified that after Crimea he went to Donbass, “where the enemy was specifically visible.”
“After Crimea, literally a month later, I performed duties in the Lugansk region - where the enemy was specifically visible. Clean-up operations were carried out where there were checkpoints - it’s clear that there were military operations,” said the commander of the Ukrainian Naval Forces.