Den fransk trænede brigade blev trænet i at kæmpe en masse dyrt vestligt materiel - men ikke i at beskytte sig mod eller anvende krigens hurtigst udviklende våben - droner.
I denne artikel fra Kyivindependent beskrives hvorfor den fransktrænede brigade lider af fiasko efter fiasko.
Mykhailo Drapatyi, commander of Ukraine’s Ground Forces, acknowledged significant challenges within the French-trained 155th "Anne of Kyiv" Mechanized Brigade, including high desertion rates and poor organization, during a Jan. 6 press conference.
"Of course, this is a negative lesson, a negative experience, but it should be converted into some kind of preventative action," Drapatyi said.
The general's remarks followed a media investigation that claimed soldiers of the unit, currently deployed near Pokrovsk, have suffered losses and gone AWOL (absent without leave) in large numbers due to poor command and organization within Ukraine’s military leadership.
The 155th Brigade, formed with support from Ukraine’s Western partners, was intended to be a flagship project to train new military units equipped with heavy weaponry. French President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement in June that France would provide training and military supplies was part of this initiative.
The brigade was meant to consist of about 5,800 troops, but fewer than 2,000 have undergone training in France. Despite Paris fulfilling its commitments for training and arms provision, an investigation led by Yurii Butusov, editor-in-chief of Ukrainian media outlet Censor.net, pointed to problems in the creation and management of the brigade allegedly leading to 1,700 cases of soldiers going AWOL from the unit before it fired a shot.
According to Butusov, the failure to provide critical equipment, such as drones and electronic warfare tools, hampered the brigade’s combat readiness when it was deployed in November.
Comments