Ukrainian investigators indicated this Thursday, January 2, that they had launched investigations into cases of abuse of power and desertions within the “Anne de kyiv” brigade, partly trained and equipped by France.
“The State Bureau of Investigation is effectively studying the facts presented in the media within the framework of the criminal proceedings initiated under Articles” linked to the abuse of power and desertion, declared this Thursday, January 2, Tatyana Sapian, the spokesperson for this official Ukrainian body.
This brigade has been the subject of controversy since its return in December 2024 from France, a country where 2,300 of the 4,500 soldiers who make it up were trained, or more than one in two.
Nearly one in three soldiers deserts before going to the front
According to renowned Ukrainian journalist Yuri Boutoussov cited by AFP, nearly 1,700 soldiers from the brigade deserted, or around 30% of the force, most of them even before their unit was deployed to the front. Around fifty soldiers even deserted during their training in France.
Poorly equipped “fillers”
The journalist accused this Tuesday, December 31, the Ukrainian military command of having failed in the initial training of the brigade, which took place in a “complete organizational chaos“and to have sent these soldiers to other units to do so”patch the holes” in terms of staff.
According to him, what remained of the brigade was sent in particular to Pokrovsk, one of the hottest sectors of the Eastern Front, while its commander was dismissed, as well as several of his subordinates. Additionally, the brigade was not equipped with drones or electronic jamming equipment, tools that have become essential for military units in this war. “Because of this criminal attitude towards the lives of soldiers, the 155th brigade suffered significant losses from the first days“, he accused.
France nevertheless ceded to this brigade 128 VAB troop transport vehicles, 18 AMX-10 tanks, 18 Caesar self-propelled guns as well as trucks, armored medical evacuation vehicles, Mistral anti-aircraft and anti-tank missile firing points Milan.
“Brigade zombie”
The problems within the “Anne of kyiv” brigade had already been denounced by Ukrainian MP Mariana Bezougla, known for her virulent criticism of the military high command, who spoke in early December of a “zombie brigade” formed for the purposes of “publicity “.
Emmanuel Macron visited the soldiers of the 155th Ukrainian brigade at the beginning of October during their training in France, in Mourmelon.
The pro-Russian favorites
This controversy over the 155th Ukrainian brigade, already dating back to the end of December, has attracted the attention of the Russian media and pro-Russian voices in France, who speak of a “fiasco” built on French taxpayers' money.
On the Ukrainian side and French media, there is talk of pro-Russian propaganda and fake news, with overestimated desertion figures and hyped up by the Russian media. For the spokesperson of the Ukrainian State Bureau of Investigation Tatyana Sapian, “the investigation is ongoing. It is too early to talk about preliminary results“.
