OPU: Ukrainian authorities didn’t know in advance that Putin would attack on February 24

The Ukrainian authorities didn't have information in advance that on February 24, the president of the occupying country Vladimir Putin will start a full-scale war against Ukraine

A member of the Ukrainian delegation stated this in talks with the aggressor country, adviser to the head of the OPU Mykhailo Podoliak in an interview with the UP.

Podoliak was asked whether Western partners had informed the President's Office in advance that Russia could attack on February 24.

"No, there was no specific date for February 24. There were many dates: February 20, 22, 16. The Americans also could not know the specific time and it is not a question of their intelligence," he said.

Journalists clarified why the Ukrainian authorities did not actively respond to warnings from Western intelligence about a possible full-scale invasion of Putin.

"The information campaign about a possible Russian attack began sometime in late October last year. It was a little strange for us. They pumped it all up, especially in December and January, but no one took any preventive action. That is, all the actions that are now ours partners are doing, it could have been done in part, and then Russia could assess the number of problems from an economic point of view," Podoliak said.

"When we received this information, our intelligence also worked and we saw it; we were preparing the management infrastructure for martial law. But we understood that if we start to press the same amount of media pressure on people, the panic will be such that we wouldn't handle the situation. The war is a war, but before the war, we would have completely destroyed the whole economy and today it would be much more difficult for us. And so it turned out that we are economically and administratively ready for anything," he said.