Trained in France in the Marne, the Anne brigade of kyiv is at the center of criticism in Ukraine. Accused of desertions and abuse of power, the Ukrainian authorities have launched investigations into this brigade.
Ukrainian investigators told AFP this Thursday, January 2, that they had launched investigations into cases of abuse of power and desertions within the “Anne of 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 the articles” linked to the abuse of power and desertion, Tatyana Sapian, the spokesperson for this official body, told AFP.
“Complete organizational chaos”
This brigade has been the subject of controversy since its return last month from France, where 2,300 of its 4,500 soldiers were trained. According to renowned Ukrainian journalist Yuri Boutoussov, nearly 1,700 soldiers from the brigade deserted, most of them before their unit was even deployed to the front, and 50 during training in France.
In a long message on Facebook on Tuesday, he accused 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 his soldiers to other units to “plug 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. Still according to this Ukrainian journalist, the brigade was not equipped with drones or electronic jamming equipment, tools that have become essential for military units in this war.
A “zombie brigade” for “advertising” purposes according to an MP
“Because of this criminal attitude towards the lives of soldiers, the 155th brigade suffered significant losses from the first days”he accused. “The investigation is ongoing. It is too early to talk about preliminary results”explained, for her part, Tatyana Sapian.
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 at the beginning of December of a “brigade zombie” formed for the purpose of “advertisement”.
Absences which would not concern “exclusively soldiers trained in France”
According to information from TF1faced with the advance of Russian troops in Pokrovsk, the troops would have withdrawn causing a dispersion of the men, “whose regrouping may take time”. A French military source declared to our colleagues that “dividing this brigade into smaller units can be justified”confirming that the command of these units is exclusively Ukrainian.
To our colleagues at TF1, Mariana Bezougla explains “that there have been a large number of cases of unauthorized absence from the unit by military personnel”, emphasizing that it is not a question “exclusively soldiers trained in France”. If a debate in Ukraine exists, TF1 calls for caution on an amplification of “Russian professional networks” and one “estimate of a military commentator based on observations of departures on all units deployed on the Pokrovsk front”.
French President Emmanuel Macron visited the soldiers of the 155th Ukrainian brigade at the beginning of October during their training in France. France gave 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 Milan anti-tank missile firing points.
