Ukraine’s Armed Forces considered possibility of Russia attempting to seize Crimea even before 2014 - Neizhpapa
In 2014, Ukraine could have used its Armed Forces to defend Crimea from Russian occupation, but this did not happen due to the lack of a corresponding order from Kyiv.
According to Censor.NET, Commander of the Ukrainian Navy Oleksii Neizhpapa said this in an interview with the Radio Liberty project Crimea.Realii.
"At that time, they were prescribed: each unit commander had a certain set of documents and a public signal for actions during certain situations," Neizhpapa said.
He emphasized that the defense mechanism was ready to be launched, but it required an order to use force. In his opinion, if this had happened, events could have taken a different turn.
Answering a question about the possibility of commanders acting independently without a decision from Kyiv, Neizhpapa noted that the use of the Armed Forces required a centralized order: "We needed an order to use it. What did President Zelenskyy do in the first days of the full-scale invasion? He introduced martial law. And everything went as it should."
To recap, during the National Security and Defense Council meeting on 28 February 2014, the only vote in favor of declaring martial law was cast by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and Acting President, Oleksandr Turchynov.
Full transcript of the NSDC meeting from 28 February 2014 available here.
