Danilov told when the Ukrainian authorities expected an invasion \ UNIAN photo

The Ukrainian authorities knew about the preparations for a full-scale russian war against Ukraine, but expected the Russian invasion to begin on February 22, not February 24.

This was announced by Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Oleksiy Danilov in an interview with the BBC Ukraine.

“We were aware of what was going to happen in our country. Moreover, the date of the attack was not February 24, but February 22. They were supposed to attack our country on February 22 in the current format. The only thing we did not expect was that the territory of Belarus would be involved. There were discussions about it, but in the end we thought it would be different”, – Danilov said.

He noted that it was absolutely incorrect to accuse the government of not preparing. “We could not go out and publicly tell the population: “Friends, the war begins on February 22″. These are unacceptable things from the point of view of public administration. But we were preparing”, – he explained.

“I can say that when on February 24 at 5 am, although in fact the invasion started at 3:40, the first column of Russian tanks entered the territory of Luhansk region – when members of the National Security and Defense Council gathered from 5:00 to 5:30, all the legal documents we had to adopt have already been prepared in advance. And those who say that we were not preparing simply do not understand how all this is happening”, – said the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.

Danilov added that the proof of the Ukrainian government’s preparations for the russian invasion is that Ukraine has been successfully repelling an attack by russian troops for 50 days.

According to the National Security and Defense Council, on the evening of February 22, Ukrainian spies had evidence that the russians had been ordered to attack, but then the russian command changed the date to February 24.

According to him, Western intelligence agencies predicted that Ukraine would last the most under the blows of russian troops for 21 days.

Danilov noted that intelligence from the United States, Britain and other countries took into account only the number of tanks, guns, etc. and tried to balance parity between Ukrainian and russian troops. However, according to Danilov, Western intelligence did not take into account the desire of the Ukrainian people to defend their land and freedom.

The Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council explained that the law “On National Resistance”, which created territorial defense battalions, came into force on January 1. The Ukrainian authorities have prepared plans in advance for the organized delivery of firearms to the local defense forces. All this, according to him, testifies to the preparation of the Ukrainian authorities for a full-scale war with russia.