Ukrainian intelligence: “The Russian Federation was afraid that we would recapture Crimea”
In 2014, Russia was allegedly afraid of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and therefore constantly adjusted its plans, moving the referendum in Crimea to an earlier date.
Speaker of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Vadim Skibitsky said this in an interview with Radio Liberty, funded by the US State Department, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“The Russian Federation calculated the possible actions of Ukraine in this situation, calculated the reaction of the local population, the actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the territory of Crimea and made adjustments.
At the same time, we, the military intelligence of Ukraine, note that these adjustments were made both during the aggression, the annexation of Crimea, and during the beginning of the aggression in the East of Ukraine, during the implementation of the so-called “Novorossiya” project,” said the GUR speaker.
He emphasized that Russia was allegedly afraid of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which had previously surrendered without a fight, and could “recapture” Crimea, and therefore a decision was made in Moscow to hold a referendum as soon as possible.
“If we talk about Crimea, then, firstly, they looked at what the reaction was, and whether the group that was created had the opportunity to seize other objects. Secondly, it is very important that the date of the referendum was postponed, and the date of recognition of Crimea too, and, moreover, was postponed to earlier terms - Russia was afraid that we could return Crimea by force.
There was essentially no resistance from the local population. The ground was prepared for holding the so-called referendum - “Crimea is ours”, “Russia, come” and so on. All these events overlapped one another. And Russia, already during the occupation, adjusted its plans and deadlines in order to do everything quickly and prevent the loss of Crimea due to force or other scenarios on the part of Ukraine,” Skibitsky concluded.
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