A 5,800-strong Ukrainian brigade has been formed in France and equipped with Western weapons: Why did 1700 soldiers flee back to the front? An attempt to explain.
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- In 2024, the formation of the new 155th Mechanized Brigade was made public.
- Thousands of soldiers have been trained in France and equipped with Western weapons.
- The unit was deployed to the front near Pokrovsk in Donetsk in December. 1700 soldiers are said to have deserted.
- A US veteran cites possible reasons for this.
- The brigade suffered heavy losses in Pokrovsk and the soldiers are now being distributed to other units.
The 155th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces is actually a flagship project. Its formation will be announced on June 6, 2024: It will be named after "Anne of Kiev", who married Henry I in 1051 and was queen of France until 1060.
Around 2,000 Ukrainians are being trained in the neighboring Swiss country over the past year - and are also receiving modern French equipment. Kiev is looking forward to a powerful force in the fall to fill the thinned-out lines on the front.
The brigade is armed with 18 AMX-10 RC light tanks, which are supported by 18 Caesar self-propelled howitzers. For transportation, 128 VAB troop transporters are available. The package is rounded off by anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.
When the 155th Mechanized Brigade is deployed back home in November, a French colonel in charge of training is quoted as saying: "They have improved a lot. They are now able to fight and maneuver. They are able to deploy different specialists and use different equipment that they will have on the battlefield."
1700 soldiers desert
That sounds encouraging, but in fact the courage is not so great: at the turn of the year, it turns out that around 1700 soldiers from the unit have deserted. And when the 155th is deployed near Pokrovsk in Donetsk, it suffers heavy losses. How did it get this far?
The YouTube channel Combat Veteran Reacts offers a plausible explanation: the creator - a US veteran named Paul - begins by explaining that of the 1924 soldiers in the brigade, only 51 have been serving for more than a year. 459 had less than a year's experience - and 1414 of the men had been in the army for less than two months. 150 had not even completed basic training.
Veteran Paul has a "guess" as to what happened: "Units at the front were told: 'You have to give up a few soldiers for this brigade'." However, the commanders would not have wanted to lose their best people, who would ensure the survival of their units. "So who do I send? The brand new guy - or the [worst] guy."
Even Leopard 2A4 tanks cannot prevent a debacle
You can't blame the commanders for this, says Paul. The fact that so many members of the unit have not even completed the 45-day basic course is another shortcoming of the 155th Brigade, which was increased by another 4,000 men in September and November. In December, the unit is transferred to the Pokrovsk front, where it is reinforced with Leopard 2A4 tanks.
This is where it happened: around 1700 of the now 5800 men deserted. "The country's top political and military leadership toyed with the 155th Brigade without even attempting to systematically prepare and train the brigade, and without giving the brigade commanders time to form a combat-ready team themselves," criticized Yurii Butusov, who brought the scandal to light.
The search is now on for the culprits. The Ukrainian law enforcement agency has opened an investigation. The military leadership holds Dmytro Riumshin responsible: the former commander of the 155th Mechanized Brigade was dismissed at the beginning of December. According to Butusov, his successors did not know how the unit was doing.
The 155th Mechanized Brigade has now effectively been disbanded. The soldiers will be reassigned to other units.