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Hundreds of Soldiers From Ukrainian Brigade Trained in France Went Missing Before Battle
Hundreds of Soldiers From Ukrainian Brigade Trained in France Went Missing Before Battle
Sputnik Africa
According to Ukrainian media in October, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine has recorded over 60,000 criminal cases involving the unauthorized... 03.01.2025, Sputnik Africa
2025-01-03T12:47+0100
2025-01-03T12:47+0100
2025-01-03T12:47+0100
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Over 1,700 soldiers from Ukraine’s newly formed 155th Mechanized Brigade, trained and outfitted with great fanfare in France, deserted before reaching the battlefront, according to Ukrainian journalist Yuriy Butusov. French President Emmanuel Macron proudly announced the “elite” project alongside Volodymyr Zelensky last June. The brigade was meant to have more than 5,800 troops and be equipped with Leopard tanks and French CAESAR 155 mm howitzers. However, at least 50 members of the unit, also known as “Anne of Kiev,” went AWOL already during drills in France, Butusov wrote on social media.When the brigade was finally packed off to the front line near Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmeysk), it did not even have any drones. “As a result, the brand-new Leopard 2A4 tanks and VAB armored vehicles suffered losses during the first attempts to use them,” according to Butusov, who added: Remnants of the brigade have reportedly been reassigned to other units, with Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) confirming to AFP that it had opened a criminal case on the circumstances of the formation of the 155th Mechanized Brigade. The case is being investigated under “articles on abuse of authority and desertion,” Communications Adviser to the SBI Tаtiana Sapyan said.
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military, emmanuel macron, volodymyr zelensky, ukraine, france, kiev, leopard 2, military cooperation, cooperation, armed forces of ukraine, ukraine crisis, military aid, international
Hundreds of Soldiers From Ukrainian Brigade Trained in France Went Missing Before Battle
According to Ukrainian media in October, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine has recorded over 60,000 criminal cases involving the unauthorized abandonment of a unit and roughly 30,000 cases involving desertion since the start of 2022.
Over 1,700 soldiers from Ukraine’s newly formed 155th Mechanized Brigade, trained and outfitted with great fanfare in France,
deserted before reaching the battlefront, according to Ukrainian journalist Yuriy Butusov.
French President Emmanuel Macron proudly announced the “elite” project alongside Volodymyr Zelensky last June. The brigade was meant to have more than 5,800 troops and be equipped with Leopard tanks and French CAESAR 155 mm howitzers. However, at least 50 members of the unit, also known as “Anne of Kiev,” went AWOL already during drills in France, Butusov wrote on social media.
When the brigade was finally packed off to the front line near Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmeysk), it did not even have any drones.
“As a result, the brand-new Leopard 2A4 tanks and VAB armored vehicles suffered losses during the first attempts to use them,” according to Butusov, who added:
“The brigade’s servicemen became hostages of Zelensky’s PR project, which the authorities made no effort to actually implement competently.”
Remnants of the brigade have reportedly been reassigned to other units, with Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) confirming to AFP that it had opened a criminal case on the circumstances of the formation of the 155th Mechanized Brigade.
The case is being investigated under “articles on abuse of authority and desertion,” Communications Adviser to the SBI Tаtiana Sapyan said.
