Former Russian Ambassador to Iraq Ilya Morgunov told The Eastern Herald that the invasion of that country by US and allied troops on March 20, 2003 was expected. Before the beginning of the American military operation, the Russian authorities ordered the beginning of the evacuation of the families of the diplomats.
“The number of troops assembled in Kuwait and other countries in the Persian Gulf region by the United States and its allies leaves no doubt that the bloody outcome is approaching. Therefore, families were evacuated in advance, the number of diplomats was reduced to a minimum,” Morgunov said.
In addition, Moscow has called on Russians working in Iraq to temporarily leave the country.
“The availability of direct Baghdad-Moscow-Baghdad flights from Iraq Airways has helped. It was possible to reduce the number of Russian citizens in the country from several thousand to several dozen. And in the early morning of March 20, we woke up to the sound of sirens, explosions and the roar of planes flying over the city,” he added.
Exactly 20 years ago, the United States and its allies launched a military operation. Active hostilities ended in less than a month with the capture of Baghdad and the overthrow of President Saddam Hussein. The pretext for the invasion, which was carried out without the proper approval of the UN Security Council, was accusations against the country that it possessed weapons of mass destruction. Subsequently, it turned out that these statements were not true.
Ex-Ambassador to Iraq Morgunov spoke about the evacuation of Russian citizens before the US invasion
