No one warned the Ukrainian defenders of Gostomel about the impending Russian attack
From the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the first presidential brigade was able to keep Gostomel and prevent the Russians from implementing the initial plan for the rapid capture of the Ukrainian capital. In an interview with Censor.NET, a colonel of the National Guard of Ukraine, who was then chief of staff of the 4th brigade, first deputy commander of the & # 8212; Nikolai Mishakin.
According to him, the Ukrainian defenders thought until the very end that Russia would not dare to launch a full-scale offensive.
«But they decided to do it. They did it very boldly from a military point of view», — the fighter says.
Answering the question of whether the military had information about the impending attack by the Russians, Mishakin said: «We didn't».
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«Now I understand that this was a well-planned operation. Very clear and bold. In our military language, it was a tactical landing in the depths of the enemy. That is, they passed our borders, our fortified areas… Only later, when we analyzed this battle, we realized that they made such a cunning maneuver as in Afghanistan – they went through the lowlands and surfaced before our eyes. For the airfield itself (Gostomel — ed.) is located on a hill. I don't know how to describe it. We hoped to the end that they were sending help to us», — recalls the military man.
The colonel emphasizes that the capture of Gostomel would help the occupiers to realize their «plan to capture Kyiv in three days». The capture of the airfield could give the invaders the opportunity to carry out the transfer of troops and materiel for the further development of the offensive.
