Ukrainian troops doubted whether they should fire back when Russians first attacked them.
Colonel-General, First Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Mykhailo Koval, who served as Acting Defense Minister from March 25 to July 3, 2014, says the Ukrainian army was demoralized when Russia unleashed aggression against Ukraine and the military were not ready to shoot at the enemy.
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"I'll give you one example: [Russian-backed] separatists came to the village of Olenivka, fraternized with them [Ukrainian troops], drank vodka together, and then shot them like pigs," he added, stressing that "the army was demoralized."
As UNIAN reported earlier, Yanukovych is charged with treason, complicity with the Russian authorities, deliberate actions committed to redraw the state border of Ukraine in violation of the Ukrainian Constitution. He is also accused of waging an aggressive war.
The judicial panel of Kyiv's Obolon district court on June 29, 2017, satisfied the prosecution's request for the trial of Yanukovych in absentia.