Troops In Crimea Prepared For War Back In January 2022 – PoW

Military officers in the occupied Crimea were aware of the preparations for the large-scale invasion of Ukraine which began a month before the war.

The chief signal officer of one of Crimean military units Igor Rudenko said this during a press conference with Russian prisoners of war.

Direct quote from the Russian PoW 

I would like to point out that by January 2022, our military unit was already preparing for war and combat against Ukraine and Ukrainian people. In January, our military unit was inspected by a commission.

They inspected the equipment, held marching drills, and assessed our work rate. The personnel was dressed up and equipped with bulletproof vests, helmets, harnesses, weapons, assault rifles, rounds, grenades, and grenade launchers. Personnel inspections were held almost on a daily basis.

Equipment, such as APCs and tanks, was thoroughly furnished and fully loaded with ammunition. They held drills and trained the personnel. They talked to the personnel and told them propaganda, saying this was going to be an exercise. However, we as officers knew that wasn’t true. We knew that an offensive on Ukraine was being prepared.

From January to February 20, fully staffed Crimean military units were deployed to Cape Opuk near the city of Kerch to prepare and hold a live-fire exercise involving all types of howitzers, projectiles, tanks, and self-propelled guns, as well as personnel training.