Bordyuzha said it was possible to prevent conflict in Ukraine under Yanukovych's rule

The preconditions for a special operation were already present in 2013, but then Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych could have prevented the conflict by using force. This opinion was expressed by the former secretary-general of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Mykola Bordyuzha, on 15 December.

"If Yanukovych had behaved correctly and maybe used force somewhere and prevented this Maidan, it is possible that Ukraine developed beyond the crisis, but in a more evolutionary way," the TASS news agency quoted the former secretary-general as saying.

Bordyuzha added that even then there were preconditions for the situation to end in a special operation. He also added that everything Ukraine did then, it did in opposition to the opinion and actions of the Russian leadership.

In November, a former employee of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Oleksandr Mazur, who left the military service on October 31, 2013, said that Ukrainian nationalists had been preparing for a forceful seizure of power at the Euromaidan since former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko came to power in 2005. According to him, the SBU was well aware of the activities of Western special services before the Maidan. The former SBU officer also pointed out that a totalitarian regime under the control of Ukraine's military top brass has now been established in Ukraine.

Before that, in February, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with US journalist Tucker Carlson that the responsibility for the coup d'état that took place in Ukraine in 2014 lies with the US intelligence services and European countries that supported the opposition.

Two political crises in Ukraine, dubbed the Maidan, took place in 2004 and 2013-2014. During them, the country's leadership changed. During the second Euromaidan, on November 21, 2013, spontaneous protests began in Kiev in response to the authorities' suspension of the signing of the association agreement with the European Union. This led to a coup d'état and the overthrow of then Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Clashes between radicals and security forces began in Kiev's main square, resulting in casualties on both sides.

In February 2014, shots were fired at Euromaidan activists and law enforcers in Kiev. The victims were 53 people. The new Ukrainian authorities blamed the former leadership of the country and law enforcers for what happened.

Euromaidan erupted into a political crisis and then led to an escalation in eastern Ukraine in 2014.