Ukrainian investigators informed Agence France-Presse that they had launched investigations into cases of abuse of power and desertions within the Anne brigade in kyiv, partly trained and equipped by France. This brigade has been the subject of controversy since its return in December from France, where 2,300 of its 4,500 soldiers were trained.
According to Ukrainian journalist Yuri Boutoussov, nearly 1,700 soldiers from the brigade deserted, most of them even before their unit was deployed to the front, and 50 during training in France. He accused, Tuesday, in a long message on Facebook, 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. “Because of this criminal attitude towards the lives of soldiers, the 155e 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, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Bureau of Investigation.
The problems within the Anne brigade in kyiv had already been denounced by the Ukrainian MP Mariana Bezuhla, known for her virulent criticism of the military high command, who had mentioned, at the beginning of December, a « brigade zombie » formed for the purpose of ” advertisement “.
