Volodymyr Zelensky explained in an interview given to the Washington Post why the population of Ukraine was not warned about the invasion of Russia, the country's president stating that if he had done that, the country's economy would have been destroyed, people would have left in droves, and the country would really have been conquered in 3 days.
Volodymyr Zelenski says that there were people from the government, or the presidential administration, who recommended warning the population, but in the end the decision was made not to do this, as the Russians invaded Ukraine on February 24 and reached Kiev, breaking parts of country in the north, east and south, killing many people during the occupation.
"You can't just tell me, 'Look, you should start preparing people now and tell them they need to put money aside, they need to store food.'
If we had communicated this - and this is what some people wanted, whom I will not name - then I would have lost $7 billion a month since last October, and by the time the Russians attacked, they would have be taken three days.
I'm not saying whose idea it was, but generally our gut feeling was right: if we sow chaos among the people before the invasion, the Russians will devour us. Because during the chaos, people flee the country. And that's what happened when the invasion started - we were as strong as we could be."
According to Zelensky, chaos and panic without martial law would have led to a significant weakening of the economy and mass departure of people, which would have made the invasion easier.
- The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) August 16
