The Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, said that the attack of the Russian army from the territory of Belarus is a "stab in the back", because a few days before, the Minister of Defense of Belarus, Viktor Khrenin, assured Ukraine that there was no threat from its territory.
Oleksiy Danilov told about this in an interview with “Babel".
"I explain why it was a “stab in the back” for us. A few days before the full-scale invasion [February 14], there was a direct communication between our defense minister and the Belarusian defense minister [Viktor Khrenin]. He guaranteed, he gave us his word of a General, an officer, that there would be no threat [from the territory of Belarus]. The next day [February 15], the head of our border guard spoke with his colleague on this topic as well, and he also assured him 100% that there would be no offensive. In general, in our understanding of the situation, there was really no idea about this particular format of war. We expected that there could be a Donetsk, Luhansk directions. As an option — Kharkiv, but we did not expect such aggression as on February 24, you know?", Danilov told.
The Secretary of the NSDC stated that they had been preparing for the war since the first day they took office, and had worked out many issues in advance — the decisions of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine was in question.
"If we had not removed the Russian agency from the information space, then imagine what the TV channels of Medvedchuk (or rather, the Russian Federation) could tell us by February 24. Pool the wool over our eyes and talk about the "fraternal Russian people"? What would happen if the people involved in the schemes of the Russian Federation were not subject to the sanctions of the NSDC? Just need to do an analysis. And everyone wants a simplified procedure when, letʼs say, one of the high-ranking officials step out and says: "Guys, in a week (or two) we will start a war, so please everyone hide," Danilov added and emphasized that everyone represent the preparation in their own way.
Oleksiy Danilov also noted that it was physically impossible to announce the beginning of the great war on February 24, because the war could have started on February 25. He also recalled the statements of the Western partners that the war would begin from January 10 to 15 or on the eve of the New Year.