Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation is probing a brigade specially trained to use French weapons after reports that hundreds of soldiers deserted the unit.
Tetyana Sapian, a spokesperson for the investigative agency, told Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday that authorities had launched a criminal investigation into abuse of power and desertion at the 155th Mechanized Brigade.
"The investigation is ongoing. It is too early to talk about any preliminary results," she said.
The infantry brigade, named "Anne of Kyiv" after an 11th-century Kyiv princess who became a queen of France, has about 5,800 soldiers. Around 2,000 of them underwent months of training in France in 2024.
There, they enjoyed a relatively high profile; French President Emmanuel Macron personally met several of 155th's battalions during a public visit to a French base in October.
Paris armed the brigade with its own weaponry, including 18 AMX 10 armored vehicles, 18 truck-mounted Caesar howitzers, and 128 armored troop carriers. The unit also fields some of Germany's prized Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks. By November, the 155th was set to hit the front lines, with French officials saying these Ukrainian troops were now equipped to fight with Western battlefield training.
But a report last week by Ukrainian journalist Yuriy Butusov said the brigade has been buckling from desertion and leadership issues, even before it was deployed to Pokrovsk. "Before the brigade fired the first shot, 1,700 servicemen left it voluntarily," wrote Butusov.
He did not provide evidence for his claim, but published a tally of the unit's strength over time that said hundreds of men deserted monthly from March to November, forcing the 155th to keep replenishing personnel. A key factor in the desertion rate, Butusov wrote, was that many in the unit had been forcibly recruited off Ukraine's streets. About 50 men also went AWOL while the unit was training in France, Butusov added.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ukraine-is-investigating-its-special-french-trained-brigade-after-reports-of-mass-desertion-and-command-problems/ar-AA1wT6i7?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=LCTS&cvid=0bc99f046d004a4f8e6d8ac263758337&ei=47
Tetyana Sapian, a spokesperson for the investigative agency, told Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday that authorities had launched a criminal investigation into abuse of power and desertion at the 155th Mechanized Brigade.
"The investigation is ongoing. It is too early to talk about any preliminary results," she said.
The infantry brigade, named "Anne of Kyiv" after an 11th-century Kyiv princess who became a queen of France, has about 5,800 soldiers. Around 2,000 of them underwent months of training in France in 2024.
There, they enjoyed a relatively high profile; French President Emmanuel Macron personally met several of 155th's battalions during a public visit to a French base in October.
Paris armed the brigade with its own weaponry, including 18 AMX 10 armored vehicles, 18 truck-mounted Caesar howitzers, and 128 armored troop carriers. The unit also fields some of Germany's prized Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks. By November, the 155th was set to hit the front lines, with French officials saying these Ukrainian troops were now equipped to fight with Western battlefield training.
But a report last week by Ukrainian journalist Yuriy Butusov said the brigade has been buckling from desertion and leadership issues, even before it was deployed to Pokrovsk. "Before the brigade fired the first shot, 1,700 servicemen left it voluntarily," wrote Butusov.
He did not provide evidence for his claim, but published a tally of the unit's strength over time that said hundreds of men deserted monthly from March to November, forcing the 155th to keep replenishing personnel. A key factor in the desertion rate, Butusov wrote, was that many in the unit had been forcibly recruited off Ukraine's streets. About 50 men also went AWOL while the unit was training in France, Butusov added.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ukraine-is-investigating-its-special-french-trained-brigade-after-reports-of-mass-desertion-and-command-problems/ar-AA1wT6i7?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=LCTS&cvid=0bc99f046d004a4f8e6d8ac263758337&ei=47
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