Oleksandr Turchynov, in his big interview with gordon.ua, spoke about his meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that took place at the end of March 2014, tut.by reports. At that time, Turchynov acted as Ukraine’s president and believed that Russia’s best military units (numbering up to 200,000 with reservists) "were fully prepared for an invasion into the continental Ukraine."
"Somewhat in early March, our restored intelligence service reported the exact time of the Russian troops invasion. Figuratively speaking, tomorrow at 4 a.m. on the Chernigov-Kiev and Kharkov directions ... We stayed at the command post all night through, the troops in the trenches ... There was a report: "Russian tanks are moving towards our border!". Tanks came close enough, but then turned back," the Ukrainian politician said in the interview.
According to Turchynov, there were not enough troops for Ukraine, there were no reserves. To reduce the number of possible directions of the attack, he left for Belarus to meet with Alexander Lukashenko. "He promised that Russians will not attack us from the territory of his country. But when we said goodbye, he said: "But, in extreme cases, I will warn you a day before...", Turchynov stated.
Recall that in March 2014 the meeting of the Belarusian president with the then-president of Ukraine and the chairman of the Supreme Rada, Oleksandr Turchynov, was held in Lyaskovichi, Gomel region. Negotiations lasted more than three hours. "These were very useful talks. We exchanged views on all issues. And I am very pleased with the results of our meeting. We have found understanding on all issues and issues of our concern. We can calmly leave today for Minsk and Kiev and be satisfied with the agreements we reached here," Alexander Lukashenko told then the state-run media.