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What it means to be Ukrainian: Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov
I am ready to accept the surrender of Russia - what it means to be Ukrainian.Battle for Kyiv: Ukrainian valor, Russian blunders combined to save the capital
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said he was one of the leaders who didn’t believe an all-out assault was coming.
European officials had been assuring him they didn’t see the same threat the United States and Britain did. According to Ukraine’s own intelligence assessments, Russia also didn’t have enough forces amassed over the border to capture or occupy a city the size of Kyiv.
On Feb. 22, Reznikov had spoken over the phone with his counterpart in Belarus, Viktor Khrenin, who promised that Russian forces on Belarusian territory would not invade — offering his word as an officer, the Ukrainian defense minister said.
“And he was a liar,” Reznikov said.
Two days later, after the invasion had begun, the two men spoke again. Reznikov heard a nervous and uncomfortable voice on the other end of the line. The Belarusian minister said he was conveying a message from his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, Reznikov recalled: If Ukraine would sign an act of capitulation, the invasion would stop.
Reznikov said he replied, “I am ready to accept the capitulation from the Russian side.”
European officials had been assuring him they didn’t see the same threat the United States and Britain did. According to Ukraine’s own intelligence assessments, Russia also didn’t have enough forces amassed over the border to capture or occupy a city the size of Kyiv.
On Feb. 22, Reznikov had spoken over the phone with his counterpart in Belarus, Viktor Khrenin, who promised that Russian forces on Belarusian territory would not invade — offering his word as an officer, the Ukrainian defense minister said.
“And he was a liar,” Reznikov said.
Two days later, after the invasion had begun, the two men spoke again. Reznikov heard a nervous and uncomfortable voice on the other end of the line. The Belarusian minister said he was conveying a message from his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, Reznikov recalled: If Ukraine would sign an act of capitulation, the invasion would stop.
Reznikov said he replied, “I am ready to accept the capitulation from the Russian side.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/interactive/2022/kyiv-battle-ukraine-survival/
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