Desertions “by the dozens”, organizational problems… Trained in France, the Ukrainian brigade “Anne de kyiv” has a series of disappointments

This brigade of the Ukrainian army, created ex nihilo to fight Russia, must have numbered more than 5,000 men, including rather elderly soldiers and less seasoned officers.

The “Anne of kyiv” brigade, the first brigade of the Ukrainian army trained and equipped in France in recent months, seems on the verge of being dismantled, or at least seriously reorganized. It must be said that this unit has accumulated disappointments since its creation.

The Ukrainian State Investigation Bureau even launched a criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the creation last spring of this 155th mechanized brigade – renamed the “Anne of kyiv” brigade – after its nine weeks of training in France in the fall.

It was to be one of kyiv's most powerful brigades, numbering over 5,000 men, equipped with AMX-10RC light tanks, French Caesar cannons and Leopard 2 heavy tanks donated by Poland. But it was a unit created out of nothing. The men are rather elderly conscripts often recruited manu militari. The officers? Unseasoned and without common experience.

Desertions have therefore multiplied, around 10% of the workforce, including in France, where around fifty men were reported missing during their training. “A few dozen” Ukrainian soldiers have deserted, a French army general staff official told AFP on Monday. The commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, Mikhailo Drapaty, spoke about “problems” within this brigade, after press revelations on cases of abuse of power and desertions.

As soon as the training was completed, the brigade officials who returned to Ukraine were dismissed from their posts. As for the teams, they were dispersed: batteries of Caesar guns were assigned to other brigades, the men trained in the maintenance of the AMX-10RC left to do something else, rendering these tanks unusable.

Beyond the desertions, there is therefore a real organizational problem in the Ukrainian army, and the new boss of the army has promised to put things in order, particularly by reforming recruitment and training.