Head of Ukraine's State Border Guard service on meeting with his Belarusian counterpart before war: He turned pale, then red, and then green

The head of the Belarusian Border Guard Service lied at a meeting with Serhii Deinenko, the Head of Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service, before Russia’s full-scale invasion, that there was "definitely no way" that an attack would happen.

Source: Serhii Deinenko, Head of Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service, in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda

Quote: "On 19 February, on the president's command, I met with my counterpart at the border. I told him about our information and asked him to pass it on to self-proclaimed President Lukashenko, especially since he is also a border guard. Lukashenko served in the border troops of the USSR KGB as a conscript.

Therefore, he should have understood that border guards are supposed to prevent border violations, not organise and facilitate them.  My counterpart assured me that this was ‘definitely not possible’. But by his reaction, I could tell that he was lying. It was our last meeting and our last conversation with him. 

I gave him some materials to listen to and intercepted conversations of Russian soldiers. He turned pale, then red, then green, and promised that he would report to Lukashenko that evening. And then we saw what happened."

Details: Deinenko believes that the fact that Ukraine’s Armed Forces conducted drills in February, as opposed to the drills of the so-called union state of Belarus and Russia, helped Ukraine to hold the situation, especially in the first days. 

Deinenko says he insisted on their appropriateness in a conversation with Defence Minister Reznikov and Commander-in-Chief Zaluzhnyi.

Read also: "Be damned, bastards" – Head of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine addressed Belarus, fighting against Ukraine

Quote: "I am very glad that these drills were held that our military units were raised and deployed and that during the armed invasion of Russia they were already able to resist and inflict fire damage."

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