Ukrainian general: in 2014 Kyiv was ready to take control of Crimea
During Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were ready to take control of Crimean airfields and other strategic facilities, said in an interview with Krym.Realii deputy chief of the General Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,Viktor Nazarov, who was part of the military delegation to Crimea.
"Those plans provided for our military intervention in Crimea. We understood that the task is quite difficult and can hardly be accomplished 100 percent. But nevertheless, to take control of key airfields, key facilities, as it was then in the Donbass, it was real. I am still analyzing it and believe that this task was real," he said.
According to the general, the plan was considered by the General Staff of the Armed Forces in early March 2014. However, it was later cancelled by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Mikhail Kutsin.
"The argument was that the situation is already very tense, and it should not be escalated even more. All, let's put everything aside, bring back everyone, and send no one there. Ground the planes, bring military units back in their bases. Let’s end here," Nazarov said.
In February 2014, armed people in uniforms without insignias appeared in Crimea and captured the Supreme Council of Crimea, the Simferopol Airport, the Kerch ferry crossing and other strategic objects, and prevented the Ukrainian army from taking action. Initially, the Russian government refused to acknowledge that these armed people were Russian soldiers, but President Vladimir Putin later admitted it.
On 16 March 2014, a referendum on the status of Crimea was held in Crimea and Sevastopol, in which the inhabitants supposedly voted for the peninsula to become part of Russia. The outcome of the so-called referendum is not recognized by Ukraine, the EU or the US. On 18 March, Putin announced the “annexation” of Crimea to Russia.
International organizations have declared the annexation illegal and condemned Russia’s actions. Western countries have imposed economic sanctions on Russia in connection with the annexation. Russia claims to have “restored historical justice”. Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, declared 20 February 2014 the start of Russia’s temporary occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol.