Journalist Yuriy Butusov made public the facts about the improper formation and support of the newly created 155th mechanized brigade "Anna Kyivska", which is currently fighting near Pokrovsk. This information caused a wide response, and the State Bureau of Investigation has already announced that it is conducting an investigation into the facts of abuse of office and desertion.
Yuriy Butusov wrote about it on Facebook. His words were confirmed by Tetyana Sapyan, adviser on communications of the DBR.
"The SBI is really studying the facts presented in the mass media as part of criminal proceedings initiated under Article 426-1 and Article 408 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The investigation is ongoing. It is still too early to talk about any preliminary results," Sapyan said.
On December 31, Butusov presented a number of facts regarding the circumstances of the formation and functioning of the 155th mechanized brigade "Anna Kyivska", which entered the battle near Pokrovsk and suffered significant losses there.
The creation of the 155th brigade "Anna of Kyiv" is part of a large-scale project of the authorities to form 14 new brigades, for which Ukraine must find people, and international partners - weapons.
According to the calculations of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the project cost of one such new brigade is estimated to be around 900 million euros.
But from the very beginning, it turned out that OK "Zahid" had no command personnel, no soldiers, no weapons, and no resources to create a new unit. The formation of the 155th brigade from the first days was complete organizational chaos in literally all components, the journalist notes.
This led to large losses due to the arbitrary abandonment of the part from the very beginning of the formation.
In October, the 155th brigade left for training in France. 1924 servicemen were sent there, only 51 of them had military service experience of more than a year, 459 servicemen had experience of up to a year, and the majority, 1414, were only enlisted and served for less than 2 months, about 150 people were sent to France even without passing BZVP. About 50 military brigades fled in France.
At the same time, most of the servicemen sent to France were preparing. More than 4,000 people recruited without selection from the TCC, who came to replenish the brigade in September-November, did not escape either, the journalist says.
From November 15, the rank and file of the brigade began to be returned to Ukraine, the headquarters of the brigade arrived in Ukraine on November 30, but to get to know their new 4 thousand subordinates who were waiting at the training center, to conduct planned additional training with those who could not get all the necessary knowledge, Brig. Ryumshin did not have time. In the absence of the brigade headquarters and combatants, the command of OK Zahid and KSV began to transfer untrained and uncoordinated people to the Pokrovska district.
The command commission of the Ground Forces blamed brigade commander Ryumshin, who allegedly did not spend time communicating with the personnel, for the escape of 50 servicemen of the brigade to France. In a few days, he was removed from his post, several staff officers, one of the combatants were also removed, and new commanders were appointed who had no understanding of the state of affairs in the brigade at all, the journalist writes.
As a result, the chaos in the administration only intensified, control became much worse, and in the first week of December, even before entering the battle, there were 198 more SZCH in the brigade, and from the first day of the execution of combat missions, significant losses of people began due to poor control and training, emphasizes Butusov.
The journalist also reports that the brigade was not provided with the necessary weapons. In particular, the brigade did not receive a single drone from the state to perform combat missions. Also, according to Butusov, electronic devices were completely absent. Volunteers helped the brigade as much as possible.
All 120 mm mortar mines produced by the Ministry of Strategy and Industry, which were issued to the brigade, turned out to be defective.
At the same time, Butusov emphasizes: most of the soldiers of the 155th mechanized brigade at the front are trying to fulfill their duties honestly, but as a result of the criminal attitude towards the lives of soldiers, the 155th brigade has suffered significant losses from the first days.
The journalist accused the political and military leadership of the state of an ill-conceived PR move and called for accountability.
"In December, the State Bureau of Investigation opened a criminal case regarding the circumstances of the formation of the 155th mechanized brigade "Anna Kyivska", which entered the battle near Pokrovsk. The matter is under the control of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief V. Zelenskyi, Minister of Defense R. Umerov and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces O. Syrsky. One of the leaders responsible for the formation of the brigade died of a heart attack, and the brigadier general was dismissed immediately after the brigade went into battle. Before the brigade fired the first shot, 1,700 servicemen voluntarily left it.
... This is indeed a crime, but it is not the crime of soldiers and officers, but the crime of the leaders of the Staff of the Supreme Commander, the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff, who continue to waste their lives and state funds on new projects, instead of strengthening experienced and combat-ready brigades. And they are trying to remove responsibility from themselves by shifting it from the hands of the Security Intelligence Service to the officers put in a hopeless position, who have to be responsible for a political project poorly organized by the top management," said Butusov.
