Colonel Margo Grosberg, head of the Estonian Defense Forces Intelligence Center, turned 50 years old on September 12. His last day of work was September 14. In a conversation with “Eesti Express”, Grosberg talks about his work, how the war in Ukraine has changed the format of intelligence work, as well as what the situation is with intelligence in Russia.
On February 24 of last year, around four o’clock in the day, almost two dozen large Il-76 transport planes took off from the Pskov military airfield. They contained many, many Russian airborne soldiers, who are considered the highest elite of the Russian army. They are well trained and experienced, having also participated in the wars in Chechnya, where they became notorious for their brutality, killing civilians openly and without reason. Now about a thousand of them were to fly to Kyiv to quickly complete what other Russian units had already begun: the overthrow of the Ukrainian political elite and the subsequent transfer of the country to Russian hands.
Dusk. The first plane took off. It was followed by the second. Then all the others. About an hour later, leading European investigative journalist Hristo Grozev tweeted that, according to Ukrainian government sources, the paratroopers were flying to Kyiv, where they would arrive within the hour. “The only goal we can think of for them is to capture and subjugate Kyiv (and install a puppet government) today,” Grozev wrote. “But the world watches and does almost nothing.”
Grozev was wrong here. Ukraine received information from a foreign colleague about the approach of hordes of paratroopers even before the planes took off, they knew that it was necessary to prepare. In Hostomel, the planes circled over the airfield and immediately flew back. The real reason is still unknown. The Ukrainians fired at them with particular fervor, the artillery fire also pierced the runways, rendering them unusable, but perhaps it was more than that. Kyiv defended its positions.
This information, so decisively important in the war, was given to the Ukrainians by the intelligence center of the Estonian Defense Forces. When we ask the head of military intelligence, Colonel Margo Grossberg, about this, he takes a long pause, slightly confused, but
To continue reading, buy a subscription. Follow “Delfi” as well Instagram or YouTube in the profile – join to find out the most important and interesting things first! The content of the publication or any part of it is a protected copyright object in the sense of the Copyright Law, and its use without the permission of the publisher is prohibited. Read more here.
2023-09-27 07:50:57
#Estonian #scouts #helped #save #Kyiv #beginning #Russian #invasion
