Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi ordered to boost Ukraine's 155th "Anne of Kyiv" Mechanized Brigade with drones after reports of desertion and mismanagement, he said on Jan. 5.
"I paid special attention to building up the capabilities of the unmanned systems unit of the 155th Mechanized Brigade, as well as to the problematic issues that need to be resolved," Syrskyi said.
His remarks came following a media investigation that claimed that soldiers of the unit, now deployed near Pokrovsk, have suffered losses and went AWOL (absent without leave) in large numbers due to poor command and organization on Ukraine's side.
Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation has launched an investigation.
Sysrkyi's statement marks the first time that the military leadership mentioned the 155th Brigade, although without elaborating on the details of the scandal.
Yurii Butusov, the chief editor of the Censor.net, claimed on Jan. 4, citing the outlet's unnamed sources, that President Volodymyr Zelensky held a meeting with the military and top officials and "took the investigation under his control."
The brigade is a flagship project under which NATO countries will help train new Ukrainian military formations and provide heavy equipment. The training of the 155th Brigade, named after an 11th-century Kyiv Rus princess and spouse of French King Henry I, was announced by French President Emmanuel Macron in June.
The unit has about 5,800 troops, fewer than 2,000 of whom have undergone training in France.
According to Butusov, the unit's founding was an "organizational chaos" since the very beginning.
Of the 1,924 soldiers eventually sent to France, only 51 had more than a year of military service, while 1,414 had served for less than two months, Butusov wrote.
The unit was also plagued by large numbers of soldiers going AWOL — about 50 deserted in France, in addition to hundreds who left their posts even before the unit was deployed at the front, according to the journalist.
Between March and November, over 1,700 soldiers had gone AWOL, Butusov claimed without providing evidence. Though the unit was replenished with new recruits, these often did not undergo "proper selection process," the journalist added.
The 155th Brigade reportedly also did not receive drones or electronic warfare equipment from the Ukrainian command. This, in addition to poor organization and insufficient training, is said to have contributed to the losses the unit suffered once deployed in November.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims.
Kateryna Denisova
(Updated: )
