General Naev stated that the shores of Mykolaiv and Odesa regions were mined a day before Russia's invasion, without any orders given.

The shores of Mykolaiv and Odesa regions were mined a day before the Russian invasion without any orders, - General Naev

The former commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Naev, stated that he made the decision to mine the Black Sea coast in Odesa and Mykolaiv regions without any orders or a legal regime of martial law — Ukrainian ships went to sea and laid mines just one day before the full-scale invasion began.

Naev shared this information in an interview with Ukrainian Truth.

According to him, he did not have any official information regarding the impending invasion; he was simply guided by messages from friends.

– I am the commander of the Defense Forces of Ukraine. I do not receive written information that there will be a war tomorrow. And at my command post in the evening, around 10 PM, my intelligence chief, a colonel, receives information from friends through unofficial channels.

A friend sends him a message on the relevant messenger. It is a conversation between two Russian soldiers discussing that at 6 AM on February 24, their Russian drone will be over a Russian convoy in Sumy region.

I ask my intelligence chief: "Do you believe this information?" He replies: "I cannot confirm or deny it." With some internal conviction, amidst the whirlwind of these events, I communicate with my commanders, living in the situation as it is. I pick up the phone and inform 7 commanders that, in my belief, at 4 AM on the 24th, Russia will begin a large-scale invasion, - the general recounted.

He noted that many decisions were made in a compressed timeframe, resulting from independent decisions made by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Zaluzhny, himself, as the commander of the Defense Forces of Ukraine, and other commanders who exhibited this initiative.

-On the night of the 23rd, I made the decision to lay naval mines in the Black Sea waters along the shores of Mykolaiv and Odesa regions. Without any decisions about their use, without a legal regime of martial law. Ukrainian military ships went to the sea on the night of the 23rd to 24th and established these minefields, - said Serhiy Naev.