The Ukrainian Prosecutor's Office is investigating the statement of the Chief of the General Staff on the disruption of the de-occupation operation of the Crimea
The Prosecutor's Office has begun investigating a statement by the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Viktor Muzhenko, regarding the disruption of a landing operation planned in March 2014 to ensure the de-occupation of the Crimea, which was annexed by Russia, as indicated an April 13 court ruling.
According to the ruling, the Main Military Prosecutor's Office studied Muzhenko's interview with Ukrayinska Pravda web site which was published on April 12.
"[The interview] contains information on the facts of the development and an attempt to carry out a plan in 2014, according to which the use of military aircraft and a landing operation were to be undertaken in the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, with the aim of the de-occupation of the latter from the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the specified interview says that the plan was not implemented due to obstacles artificially created by certain officials of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine," the text of the court decision says.
In connection with the investigation, the court granted the Military Prosecutor's Office access to documents dated from February 24 to March 10, 2014 that are in the General Staff’s headquarters.
In particular, access was granted for the following: the actions of the Chief of the General Staff and the Minister of Defense, memorandums, plans for operations and exercises, military orders, plans, combat orders, and directives for their implementation.
The investigators also obtained the right to seize correspondence between the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), the General Staff, the Defense Ministry, the Presidential Administration, the Cabinet of Ministers, ministries, other central executive authorities, law enforcement agencies and other military bodies regarding the de-occupation of the Crimea.
These documents are classified as “restricted access”.
On April 12, the Ukrayinska Pravda web site published an interview with Muzhenko in which he stated that on March 1, 2014, he developed a plan for carrying out the landing operation for the de-occupation of the Crimea, together with the Deputy Chief of the Main Operations Directorate, Viktor Nazarov.
According to Muzhenko, on the evening of March 1, after the meeting of the NSDC, the then Chief of the General Staff, Mikhail Kutsin, and his first deputy, Gennady Vorobyev, informed him that the de-occupation operation on the peninsula had been aborted.