The Ukrainian military had been preparing to repel a full-scale Russian aggression for five months.
Lieutenant General Oleksandr Pavlyuk told about this in an interview.
According to him, it was already known in the fall of 2021 that there would be a full-scale war. Although the exact scale of the invasion was difficult to understand, it is clear that Russia will, at a minimum, capture the territory of Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
Therefore, the military analyzed the actions of the enemy, preventive and reconnaissance measures, which he carries out along the entire line of contact, along the border. There were signs that the enemy would attack not only from the “L/DPR” but also from the territory of Russia. That is why since autumn our military began to prepare to meet the invaders in order to inflict maximum losses on them.
The Ukrainian military understood that the enemy had superior forces and means.
– Already in January-February (2022, – Ed.) we received telegrams from the Main Directorate of Intelligence (Ministry of Defense of Ukraine – Ed.), in which it was assumed that such an option was possible. And for the month of February, we did everything possible to meet the enemy with dignity: all positions were strengthened as much as possible, all possible options were calculated, all reserves were moved – we conducted full-scale training twice, at least, and a lot of local training was conducted – noted Oleksandr Pavlyuk.
According to the lieutenant general, such thorough preparation played a decisive role, because on the first day, when the Russians struck all the command centers, all the control points, all the places where there were supposed to be concentrations of Ukrainian troops and warehouses, everywhere was empty.
On February 21, 2023, Oleksandr Pavlyuk was appointed First Deputy Minister of Defense.