"Crimea taught us"

The commander of the Navy for the Armed Forces of Ukraine Igor Voronchenko at the time of the capture of Crimea served as deputy commander of the Beregovoy and Territorial Defense Navy. He refused to go to the side of the Russian Federation and was captured by Russian special forces. With the beginning of hostilities in the Donbass, Voronchenko headed the anti -terrorist operation in the Luhansk region.

Petro Poroshenko appointed Voronchenko by the fleet commander, after this position, Admiral Sergey Gaiduk was shifted with a scandal, accused by the volunteer community of corruption, relations with the FSB and the Sabotage of the NATO reform recommended by NATO. So far, Voronchenko has a credit of trust, but can he restore the most small and most destroyed type of Armed Forces of Ukraine in a short time?

In connection with the aggravation of the situation on the border with the annexed Crimea, the question of the combat readiness of the Ukrainian Navy is even more relevant. With the events in the Crimea, we began a conversation with Igor Voronchenko. This is his first interview after appointment.

• In fact, in the Crimea there were internal showdowns of Russian security forces. Perhaps this is due to the channels of transference of smuggling across the border, possibly deserters ... I saw leaflets about the search for these armed people (participants in the shooting on the border. - Ed.), Which on the eve of were pasted into Dzhankoy, in Russian form, with Russian identification marks. But in the Kremlin, as usual, they want to solve their internal problems at the expense of the Ukrainian issue. The statements of the Russian president go beyond common sense, he desired he presents for reality, which cannot be confirmed by facts. Apparently, this is not a planned action, but some spontaneous actions of the Russian side. You need to understand that Russia will aggravate and escalate the situation under any suitable circumstances. This was the Kremlin plan - to be able to destabilize the situation in Ukraine at any convenient moment.

- Do these actions threaten the next escalation of war in Ukraine or, as some observers suggest, a large -scale offensive of the Russian army?

• I believe not. But we are ready for any development of events. And not only the Navy, but also all the Armed Forces of Ukraine. What I see. In Russia, soon elections to the State Duma, after a year and a half, the presidential election. Putin's rating does not increase. He needs new victories. Therefore, he will escalate and keep us in good shape. This will happen until the world community proceeds to specific decisive actions: Russia's disconnecting from the SWIFT system, lowering the price of a barrel of oil to $ 20 ...

- The news has just appeared about the removal of Sergei Ivanov from the post of head of the Kremlin administration (the conversation took place on August 12. - Ed.).

• Ivanov, Chemezov ... This is a "camp of war" surrounded by Putin. An interesting turn. I assume that this is preparation for 2017-18. I do not exclude that Putin is preparing Ivanov in successors. Ivanov is too close to Putin to just remove him. Most likely he will be taken into the shadow, put on, and then presented to voters.

"The task of Moscow is to surround us from all sides"

Photos of the press service of the Ukrainian Navy

- Russia continues to seize the property of Ukraine, not even in the water area of ​​the Crimea Peninsula. The so -called Boyko towers were captured, and recently Ukrainian border guards showed the work of Russian drilling rigs at Odessa and Golitsinsky gas fields. Many have a question: why did the fleet not confront this?

• This is an unprecedented racket at the state level. Of course, it was necessary to land the landing there, it was necessary to defend them ... But at that time there was no strength to do this.

- And now?

• Now another thing. If this gas, which is used in Crimea, would be blocked, this would give a lot to Ukraine. And the blockade had to be done from the very beginning.

- It does not seem strange to you that the third year of the war is going on, and Ukraine does not react to the seizure of its property? So much time has passed after the capture, and this issue is only at the stage of discussion.

• I agree. The ball is constantly in our half of the field. We never hit our hands and do not go forward to make them mistaken and react to our challenges.

- Maybe it is worth playing ahead of the manual?

• Now, I think Putin’s attention will switch to Moldova. The task of Moscow is to surround Ukraine from all sides. Everything is already clear with Belarus. Lukashenko - both yours and ours. And such games end poorly. If he admits the passage of the Russian troops through Belarus, it will be strongly hiccuping him. To scare the people with only one phrase “Do you want a Maidan?” ... I will not wish a single country so that blood is spilled there, but a sad end always comes to authoritarian regimes.

But Moldova still remains an unoccupied point. There is soon election. In Transnistria, there is a Russian contingent of one and a half thousand military personnel.

- This contingent seems to be blocked by Ukraine.

• Aircraft fly there under the guise of civilian. Rotations are carried out in a civilian form of clothing. Having 800 meters of the Danube, they can freely enter the mouth and unload the equipment. But we already have their answers to this insidious plan of Russians.

"Russia bluff"

- How dangerous is it for Ukraine and the Black Sea region as a whole by destabilization in Turkey?

• Recently, a political rapprochement of Ukraine and Turkey has occurred. Visits, meetings at different levels ... Recently, the commander of the Turkish naval forces came to our Odessa.

The dominant in the Black Sea region, of course, was Türkiye. The Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation could not even be compared with Turkish, until the Crimea was annexed and Russia did not transfer the “bastions”, “balls”, “buoy” (missile systems. - Ed.) And new frigates with boats ... although this is also a kind of blunder. Are there these "calibers" on these ships? The Caliber missile is very expensive. I do not believe that Russians have ammunition on all ships.

- In the Caspian Sea, they demonstrated what they were, having fired at Syria.

• This is dust in the eyes. They have no potential as Putin wants to show. Yes, while we do not have funds to determine the accuracy of shooting with calibers. But our overseas friends have such funds. And I am sure that they traced where each of the 43 missiles went. I asked one senior person a direct question: "Tell me, did they get?" The answer was: "Part fell in Iran."

Photos of the press service of the Ukrainian Navy

- Recently, the joint exercises of Ukraine and the countries participating in NATO Sea Breeze have ended. For the first time in many years, they were so large -scale. And for the first time the protesting civilians in Ukraine were not visible, which oppose cooperation with NATO.

• In the country where there is a war and accents are placed, some aggressor, who was the victim, and who is the partner, the slightest attempts to protest and block such events should be harshly suppressed up to criminal liability. Crimea taught. The Lugansk region taught me. And if we went to Bessarabia, then we will not give it back. And if someone has thoughts to meet green men - on the boat and in the Crimea!

During the Sea Breeze, all phases, 25 ships were covered, among which the frigate, the destroyer, and a large landing ship. The aviation component was involved - 23 aircraft and helicopter, landing. The planting of marines was carried out three miles from the shore. The coordination of tactical groups of ships was carried out. But the most important thing is the work of the multinational headquarters according to the same standards. The day before, our officers went through the course training according to NATO standards and already taking into account this training worked in a joint headquarters.

Based on the results of Sea Breeze, I can say that there is complete understanding between Ukraine and NATO. It is too early to talk about one hundred percent compatibility, but the “sagaidachnaya” (the “hetman Sagaidachny” frigate. - Ed.) Together with the helicopter, he received an assessment of the second level, which means that it is already working according to NATO standards. Ukrainian Navy can act as part of NATO groups and can be included in the NATO forces and means to perform tasks.

"The arrest of Konstantinov would have saved Crimea"

Vladimir Konstantinov (in the center) near the building of the Supreme Council of the ARC. Photo: crimea.gov.ru

- You were a direct participant in the Crimean events of the beginning of 2014.

• Yes, and I believe that the campaign that Putin untied against Ukraine could be stopped in the Crimea. We had a limited time to make decisions, but it was. It seemed to me that everything should end quickly, as in Georgia: they went - went out. There are international security institutions: the UN, OSCE, Bloks, International Treaties and the Budapest Memorandum, which guaranteed Ukraine territorial integrity. Most likely there were external factors of influence on the then leadership. And in the end, the unpredictable comrade from the Kremlin did what he did.

- Why do you think international security institutions did not work?

• The world was not ready for the fact that one madman with patients with ambitions could give a damn about the whole established order. He succeeded in Georgia, in other dirty games, this was not taught by the West, and Putin went to the end. Maybe if we started shooting in the Crimea, he would retreat. I don’t know, they say, in case Ukraine began to resist, the Russians provided for the evacuation of families of military personnel of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation and the sudden evacuation channel of the military group.

We were not ready to attack. The management was broken. And most importantly, the control system is destroyed. I gave the command of the Marine Corps battalion to go to Perekopsk, and the battalion commander reports: I can’t break out, because the second block of blockade, mine barriers are already around the unit, the racers of snipers were noticed, Graded are nominated. It was already too late.

No one expected that the leadership of the naval forces would surrender. The same Berezovsky (Denis Berezovsky, commander of the Ukrainian Navy, who went over to the side of the enemy. - Ed.), The same frightened Shakur, Eliseev (Vice Admiral Sergey Eliseev and Rear Admiral Dmitry Shakur, who also crossed the side of the Russian Federation. - Ed.) ...

- Do you think the main problem in the command of the Navy, and not in the political leadership?

• Everyone was confused. And for Russia these were not sudden solutions. Aggression against Ukraine was prepared for more than one or two years. The first rehearsal of the capture of Crimea was the events around the Tuzl braid in 2003. I was then the commander of the regiment, and all this happened before my eyes. Then my group was deployed, which was supposed to advance in case of exacerbation of the situation. Then we saved the reactive division, put forward to fire positions. One salvo - and the construction would end. But interestingly, immediately after the points, our regiment was reduced, both the reactive division and the tank battalion left.

- If you return 2014 now, would you act differently?

• If I return the time at 7 a.m. on February 27, 2014, I would have made one move that could save Crimea. I would arrest Konstantinov (Vladimir Konstantinov - Chairman of the Supreme Council of Crimea at the time of annexation. - Ed.). If I knew ... I would have arrested Konstantinov, his Zamov would not let the Supreme Council into the parliament building. They would do it - they would not be able to hold a fake referendum. In 1993, Yeltsin shot his parliament, that was also necessary to shoot Crimean. Knowing that there are only terrorists, why not blow up this building? Do you know what else is interesting? In October-November 2013, the SBU exercises were held with the involvement of all power structures to release the Crimean parliament.

- What part of the property of the Ukrainian fleet did the Russians return after the annexation of Crimea? And what about the rest of the property now?

• I know that our ships are in a separate bay, where the "technique of a foreign state" is written. One battalion of BTRs, one tank battalion and automotive equipment that they did not need were returned along the coastal component. They left all the good to themselves. These are two sets of BTR-80, two BMP battalions and all artillery.

Artillery and armor are most likely used in the Donbass. In May 2014, I saw a machine gun from the separatists, which was listed in the first marine battalion. This is easily checked, there is a license plate. In 2014, the Russians specially began to start the T-64BM tanks to the Donbass, which are only in service with the Ukrainian army (in the Russian-T-72, T-90 different modifications). Allegedly, the "militias" captured them from the Ukrainian army. Yes, I will not hide, there were single captures during the fighting. But the first T-64 settled through the Russian Donetsk, located opposite Izvarino. I know this because I had a huge network of informants and they reported to me about the passage of each unit of equipment. Where did these tanks come from? From the storage base in Altai. There are even images of loading the T-64 on the "Ruslans". In general, I can’t even imagine what penny of Russia the content of this scrap in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions is about, not to mention the cost of the presence of a professional Russian army.

"Beat the sabotage to the dust"

- It so happened that you headed the Navy in the wake of popular trust. The volunteer community sought the displacement of the previous commander of the Gaiduk and supported your candidacy.

• I cannot give an assessment of the previous command. It will be incorrect. Yes, there were gaps. But the potential of the Navy remained. And the fact that there were incorrect views on the development of the fleet ... Now, as far as I know, the old team agrees with the new requirements. When I just came, there was resistance. But while I command, I will not allow anyone to spend the resource potential that the state gives us.

I met with volunteers. There were motley questions. The problem of social nature is very acute today, especially with regard to housing provision, deployment of parts that left Crimea. We knock on all doors about increasing the potential of the ship's composition.

If Ukraine is cut off from the sea, the country will lose the status of transit. And then it will be possible to shred both the center and the West of Ukraine. All these questions were asked by our partners from the United States, from the UK: did you think how much will you lose if sea communications are broken? Sea communications need to be guarded. You can not allow the aggressor to host in the Black Sea. We are considering attracting all possible means that can be made at our own productive capacities. And, frankly, if the military understands the need, then from civilian leaders there is sometimes such resistance ... Now wartime. We have a war. Each delay, tightening in the repair of weapons, each incorrectly spent hryvnia is a crime. For example, Svatovo's landing boat is repaired for a year. Money has been paid. I arrived - the work is in full swing, welding machines sparkle. As soon as I left, everyone turned off. I told the director: "Next time I will come with the Marine Corps battalion and drive you out of the factory."

Yes, they put me in this position with the hope that I will break everyone to the right. And I will beat in sabotage places.

Photo by the author

- One of the reasons for dissatisfaction with your predecessor was the sabotage of the Navy reform proposed by NATO experts. In the fall of 2015, in Brussels, the Navy command presented the wrong document that was developed and agreed on the eve of the NATO. This caused, to put it mildly, misunderstanding from the Western partners of Ukraine. Did you manage to resolve this conflict situation? And what is happening now with the reform of the Navy?

• The reform is already coming. In May-June, I and the other command officers took two meetings with NATO experts. We came to a single understanding of all moments. This is the separation of the functions of the training of troops and management, the transfer of powers to lower commands and so on.

- But the reform draft concerned not only the team structure.

• As for the ship's composition. Already, a resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers to write off the entire unnecessary rubbish, which hangs on the balance of the Navy. We have a lot of ships and ships that simply stand and draw resources. There is also a political decision on the demilitarization of the unfinished cruiser "Ukraine", which will go for spare parts to other vessels. Unfortunately, this cruiser was not sold in time, and now it stands and is only pulling money. We need small boats of the coastal zone that can restrain the outputs of groups in the northwestern part of the Black Sea.

- According to the Navy development strategy proposed by NATO experts, the Navy commander should be a political figure and be in Kyiv.

• Yes.

- And you are still in Odessa.

• In general, this issue was raised when the Armed Forces Development Program for 2006-2011 was prescribed. The command headquarters were supposed to stay in the field, and the commanders were supposed to be in Kyiv near the Minister of Defense and the chief of the General Staff - where issues of the development of the Armed Forces are being resolved.