Secret battle plans show Russian troops expected 15-day war

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense said it seized documents from fleeing Russian soldiers that suggest Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was expected to take only 15 days.

The documents were posted to the Defense Ministry’s Facebook page on Wednesday, including an invasion map, a table of call signs and a list of personnel.  

"Thanks to the successful actions of one of the Armed Forces of Ukraine's units, Russian occupiers are losing not only equipment and manpower," the ministry wrote in English. "In panic attacks, they are leaving classified documents."

The documents reveal that the Russian incursion into Ukraine was approved a month before it began and was expected to last 15 days, the ministry said.

“Taking this information into account, we know, that planning documents on warfare with Ukraine were approved on JAN 18 2022, and the operation itself should last 15 days, from FEB 20 to MARCH 06,” they wrote.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine in the early-morning hours of Feb. 24. It has since entered its second week, with progress stalling in the north above Kyiv.

The battle plans outline how a unit in the 810th Separate Navy Brigade of the Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet was to take Melitopol, a Ukrainian port city on the Sea of Azov.

Putin’s forces have made more progress in the southern part of Ukraine, where they have reportedly seized the port city of Kherson. Fighting continues to rage around Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, in the east.

As a parting shot, the ministry wrote: "Our response to the Russian occupiers is the following: Keep leaving your vehicles and classified documents, they will be useful for our defenders and The Hague."