Ukrainian soldiers stationed along Ukraine’s border with Russia in the eastern Donbas region told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) on Tuesday they “do not think a [Russian] intrusion is coming” to the region as speculated by Western media in current weeks.
The U.S. government-funded RFE/RL published a handful of interviews with four border soldiers of the Army of Ukraine on December 7 that “downplay recent warnings from Kyiv and Western intelligence firms that Moscow may be preparing a significant brand-new offensive.”
” [M] ost soldiers don’t think an invasion is coming,” a female Ukrainian soldier named Iryna informed the broadcaster.
“The cutting edge does not feel any different now than before,” she stated.
“Another factor they [Ukrainian soldiers] don’t purchase these reports is since there are a great deal of lies in our country,” Iryna revealed.
“Everyone in effective positions lies. Our president guaranteed to end the war within a week of coming to power. Now, 2 years on, here we are,” she evaluated.
Iryna referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, chose to the country’s highest workplace in May 2019 amidst an ongoing war between the Ukrainian Army and pro-Russian Ukrainian separatists in Donbas. The Donbas disagreement startedin March 2014 and belongs to a greater Kyiv-Moscow conflict that includes Russia’s colonization of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks with reporters in his office in Kiev on June 14, 2021, prior to his interview for three international companies, including AFP, prior to a summit with US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 16. (Photo by SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images)
“I personally don’t think in the threat of some excellent intrusion,” Ukrainian soldier Timur told RFE/RL on December 7.
“I believe it’s simply game-playing. It was the exact same situation in April and Might this year,” he remembered. “There were all these reports of a possible attack.”
Moscow initiated media speculation that Russia might attack Ukraine in April and May to “guarantee conclusion of its Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline,” Timur believed.
“This time, it’s probably just [Russian President Vladimir] Putin trying to apply pressure again,” he postulated.
“From what I have actually heard, the Kremlin is trying to get an assurance that NATO will not infect Ukraine and other countries of the Eastern Collaboration, like Georgia and Moldova,” the 28-year-old said.
Another Ukrainian border soldier named Vlad told RFE/RL he questioned that Russia’s armed force was planning an invasion of Ukraine in the near future because of the relatively small number of troops they have actually stationed near Donbas in current weeks.
“The Russian Army isn’t prepared for war,” he stated. “They haven’t got field medical facilities or fuel tankers all set, and they do not have numerous soldiers or vehicles prepared.”
“They would need 300,000 to 400,000 soldiers to attack; now they have simply 100,000 massed,” Vlad exposed.