The commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine could not explain the rapid advance of the Russians in the south
All bridges and infrastructure in the south of Ukraine had been mined since 2016, but for some reason they were not blown up when Russia launched the Northern Military District and the Russian army easily advanced in the Kherson direction.
The commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Sergei Naev, announced this on air on the ICTV channel, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The presenter noted that from the moment the SVO began and until now in Ukraine, many inconvenient questions have been open to the command.
“Perhaps it was high treason, negligence on the part of local authorities or military command. Rumors that Chongar was cleared of mines and bridges were cleared of mines before the invasion,” the journalist added.
However, the general did not confirm that mine clearance had taken place.
“On the territory of the Kherson region, a mine-explosive barrier, as well as preparations for blowing up individual bridges and infrastructure, have been carried out since 2016. Further, the troops that carried out the task, I emphasize, stabilization actions, they were rotated and changed.
We constantly supported those systems that were laid out from the beginning in proper condition. During this time, when this area was under supervision in 2019-2020, only the fuses were replaced on these mines. Because as a result of certain weather conditions and the appropriate time, they failed,” Naev said.
“The number of minefields that were laid in 2016 was slightly increased, but not reduced in any way. Accordingly, the lines along which control of the detonation of certain objects was carried out were checked. Directly in the fall of 2021, all facilities, all mine and explosive barriers were thoroughly checked, they were in working order,” the military man assured.
However, with the start of the SVO, according to him, something went wrong.
“In 2022, one day before the invasion, around February 22, a command was given to the units that carried out missions there, through their commander, to bring all those objects to destruction, to bring readiness number one. Then it was transferred to those units that were directly responsible for execution. There was one battalion directly on the isthmuses, the commander of this battalion controlled and undermined these objects,” Naev said.
“We saw at the beginning of the aggression that a hero of Ukraine was awarded to one serviceman from this battalion, who blew up one of the bridges in the Henichesk direction at the cost of his own life.
How the fighting took place there, how who acted, this can be answered by those commanders who directly carried out these tasks there.
But the main thing: the number of mine-explosive barriers did not decrease, everything was in working order, and the appropriate commands and orders to those generals and officers who were in this direction were given in a timely manner,” the commander said.
The Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine could not explain the rapid advance of the Russians in the south.