Ukrainian troops in Donbas began preparing for a full-scale Russian invasion in autumn 2021. This was stated in an interview with Radio Liberty by the Commander of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Pavlyuk, who was in charge of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) in Donbas at the time of the outbreak of the full-scale war.
"There were all the signs that we would meet the enemy - not only from the occupied part of Donbas, where the LPR/DPR militant groups operate, but also from the territory of Russia. Therefore, in the autumn, we began to take certain actions to successfully meet and inflict maximum damage on the enemy. We realised that the balance of forces and means was and will be not in our favour, but we still had no other options - we had to stand up, because the whole of Ukraine was behind us," Pavlyuk said.
He noted that for five months the military had been preparing to repel a full-scale aggression.
"Already in January and February, we received telegrams from the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine stating that such an option was possible. And in February, we did everything we could to meet the enemy with dignity: all positions were reinforced as much as possible, all possible options were calculated, and all reserves were moved," Pavlyuk added.