The commander of the Ukrainian land forces Mikhaïlo Drapaty recognized, this Monday, January 6, “problems” within the “Anne of kyiv” brigade, partly trained and equipped by France, after press revelations on cases of abuse of power and desertions.
“I confirm of course that there were problems with the command and the training process,” he admitted to several media, including AFP, but “perhaps not on the scale […] “As far as possible, all these problems are being resolved,” he continued, assuring that the number of desertions of soldiers trained in France was “minimal”.
The “Anne of kyiv” 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.
On this point, the French army said Monday that it had noted “a few dozen” desertions during training, a phenomenon that was however “marginal” according to it. “There have been a certain number of desertions, but they remain very marginal given the volume of people who have been trained,” a French general staff official told AFP. “They were in French barracks, they had the right to leave,” he added, specifying that the training had been “in accordance” with the wishes of the Ukrainians, in terms of “equipment, training time and level”.
Ukrainian journalist Yuri Boutoussov described “complete organizational chaos” in the initial training of the brigade and accused the Ukrainian general staff of having sent some of these soldiers to other units to “plug the holes” by terms of staffing. An investigation had been opened into cases of abuse of power and desertions within this brigade, AFP learned on January 2. 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 in early December of a “zombie brigade” formed for the purposes of “publicity “.
“Systemic” problems for other brigades
“There were certain problems, and they still exist, no one hides them,” Ukrainian ground forces commander Mikhailo Drapaty told reporters on Monday. “We are taking certain measures, particularly in terms of training and coordination, so that this military unit is truly ready to fulfill its missions,” he added.
The soldier also recognized, in a rare admission by the Ukrainian general staff, that the problems encountered by the “Anne of kyiv” brigade were “systemic for other brigades”: “It’s not a secret”. To resolve them, “we also need an overall approach”, he said, at a time when the Ukrainian forces are struggling against the Russian troops, who are more numerous and better armed.