Defence Minister Reznikov: We expect offensives, as it is February, and Russians love symbolism

Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s Defence Minister, has stated that the country's defence forces expect Russian offensive operations before the symbolic date of 24 February, when the full-scale invasion began; however, he urged people to trust only official information.

Source: Reznikov at a press conference on Sunday, 5 February, reports Ukrinform news agency 

Quote: "There is a lot of information, probably everyone has read the Telegram channels [that reported – ed.] the possible attack at night, etc. ... There was no attack. It is very important to listen to the General Staff, its official opinion. When it will be clear that they [the invaders – ed.] formed their offensive groups, [and] where – our General Staff knows this very well."

Details: Regarding Kharkiv, Reznikov noted that there are currently no offensive groups from Russia; however, according to him, it cannot be ruled out that "after some time they may appear".

At the same time, he did not rule out increased pressure from the Russian invaders and possible offensive operations.

Quote: "We still, of course, expect possible Russian offensive operations, because it's February, and they like symbolism, and 24 February marks a year since this invasion began, the full-scale Ukrainian-Russian war, which began in 2014... so we expect this pressure. We are ready, Ukrainian Armed Forces are ready, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Staff is constantly monitoring [the situation], so there are no unexpected things for you and me."

Reznikov also noted that the Defence Ministry has not recorded any offensive groups formed on the territory of Belarus to attack Kyiv.

"We do not see any formed offensive groups capable of moving to Kyiv from the territory of Belarus as of today... There is no such concentration of troops as of today. According to our estimates, no more than 12,000 Russian soldiers are [now] on training grounds in Belarus," the minister emphasised.

More details: Reznikov also believes that a full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine could have been avoided if international partners had acted in advance.

"This war could have been avoided altogether if Nord Stream 2 had been stopped, if access to the SWIFT system had been cut off, if Russian ships had been banned from entering international ports, if Europe had stopped buying their gas, which they did anyway, if they had started to block assets of Russian oligarchs, this war could have been avoided," the minister is convinced.

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