The Defense Minister, Oleksiy Reznikov, assured that after the victory in the war, Ukraine will conduct an investigation to find out who demined Chongar and the bridges on all Crimean isthmuses. This is what allowed the Russian invaders to break through to the Kherson oblast so quickly.
He stated this in an interview with "Ukrainian Pravda".
He emphasized that this issue should be addressed to the leadership of the security and defense sector, and to the civil authorities.
"Making a decision on mining, demining, pressing a button to detonate something does not belong to the competence of civil authorities at all. Not to the government, not to the president, not to the minister of defense, not to the prime minister, not to peopleʼs deputies, not to you, not to anyone. This is a purely military issue. That is why someone invented this narrative and invented that someone there said to detonate — not to detonate, demining — this is purely a military story, a minefield," he noted.
Reznikov assured that if facts of treason are established, the guilty will be held accountable. At the moment, the priority is to end the war, and only then will there be investigations.
According to the minister, blowing up bridges would hardly stop the movement of Russian troops, as there are many ways from Crimea.
"There are 10 more passages from Crimea by land, not bridges. And therefore, blowing up the bridge would not affect the Russiansʼ ability to advance in this direction... Secondly, if you remember, there was a Russian armored personnel carrier on Obolon in the first days of Kyiv. Just as there were Buryat tanks on the approaches to Brovary. From Brovary to Kyiv within easy reach. Did the Metro bridge need to be blown up? Necessary. But what would society say today? "Why were the bridges blown up? There are no bridges over the Dnipro!"? The logic is like this," explained Reznikov.
- Chongar was defended by a part of the 59th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade and the 137th Separate Marine Infantry Battalion, and there was also an artillery unit belonging to the Operational Tactical Group "South".