Border guards knew for two weeks that Russia would attack - head of SBS, Deineko
The leadership of the State Border Service knew two weeks before the start of the full-scale invasion that Russia would attack Ukraine from the territory of Belarus.
Serhii Deineko, head of the State Security Service of Ukraine, said this in an interview with Ukrainian Pravda, Censor.NET reports.
"We knew about the invasion that was planned. Of course, now there is a lot of information that "everyone knew". However, the Border Service informed the higher military leadership of the state.
I reported to the president two weeks before the start of the full-scale invasion that there would be a war, that Russia would certainly attack the territory of Ukraine from the Republic of Belarus through the Chernobyl zone," he said.
According to Deineko, for a long time, they completely controlled individual representatives of the military and political leadership of the Russian Federation. "We had video materials, photos, we knew the plan in detail. Therefore, it gave us the opportunity to prepare well," he noted.
Deineko added that the SBS has its own border intelligence, which works very effectively, primarily in neighboring countries - the Russian Federation and Belarus.
Therefore, two weeks before the start of the full-scale invasion, all secret documentation of personal and residential affairs of personnel from Mariupol, Kramatorsk, Lysychansk, Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr was completely evacuated. Lutsk, Kyiv, Boryspil, Berdyansk, Odesa, and Kherson.
"We clearly understood what would happen on the border of the Kharkiv and Luhansk regions, where the enemy was supposed to enter the territory of Ukraine with the aim of encircling and eliminating our group in the zone of operations of the combined forces.
That's why we reacted as much as we could with our combat reserves, moved the rapid response combat border command posts.
However, to be honest, the Armed Forces did not have time to reach us in time, as they did not reach the border in 2014," said the head of the SBS.
"On February 21, I informed all higher authorities in writing that there would be a war. Yes, the date of the full-scale offensive was postponed. First it was February 19, then the 22nd and the last - February 24," he said.
Deineko noted that the border guards were the first to meet the Russian onslaught on February 24.
"The invasion began at 3:40 a.m. on the site of the Luhansk border detachment. Around four in the morning, I reported to the Minister of Internal Affairs, Denys Monastyrskyi, that my subordinates were already fighting in three directions, and convoys were approaching.
I sent an SMS to Zelensky at 5:17 a.m., when the invasion was already underway along almost the entire state border," Deineko said.
