Scandal with the formation of the 155th Brigade “Anna Kyivska”: SBI launches investigation
3 January 2025 00:43
The State Bureau of Investigation is investigating the facts presented in the media regarding the circumstances of the formation of the 155th mechanized brigade “Anna Kyivska”. Proceedings have been opened under articles on abuse of power and desertion. This was reported in a commentary to Interfax-Ukraine by the SBI Communications Advisor Tetiana Sapian, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
She noted that the proceedings are being investigated under articles on abuse of power and desertion.
“The SBI is indeed studying the facts presented in the media within the framework of criminal proceedings initiated under Article 426-1 (abuse of power or authority by a military person) and Article 408 (desertion) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The investigation is ongoing. It is too early to talk about any preliminary results,” she said.
Earlier, Yuriy Butusov, editor-in-chief of Censor, wrote on his Telegram channel that in December 2024, the State Bureau of Investigation opened criminal proceedings into the circumstances of the formation of the 155th mechanized brigade “Anna Kyivska”, which entered the battle near Pokrovsk.
According to Butusov, the proceedings are under the control of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the Minister of Defense and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
“One of the leaders responsible for the formation of the brigade died of a heart attack, and the brigade commander was dismissed immediately after the brigade entered the battle. Before the brigade fired its first shot, 1700 soldiers left without permission,” wrote the editor-in-chief of Censor.
He also disclosed facts about the improper formation and provision of the 155th Brigade.
What was the reason for the inspection
The article states that “the reason for the initiation of the SBI case was the events in France, where the 155th Anna Kyiv Brigade was sent for training.
The brigade began to be formed in March 2024, and the Operational Command “West” was responsible for this process, with General Shvediuk as commander, Colonel Seletskyi as chief of staff, and General Pavliuk as commander of the ground forces. Officer Dmytro Ryumshyn was appointed as the commander.
Butusov claimed that the formation of the brigade from the very first days was “a complete organizational chaos”. He provided a schedule of manning the 155th Brigade, the number of personnel before going to the front for each month, and in parentheses indicated the number of SFs in that month, according to his data:
- March 46 (3)
- April 123 (6)
- May 217 (31)
- June 1978 (185)
- July 3882 (310)
- August 2748 (217)
- September 3253 (187)
- October 3211 (339)
- November 5832 (448)
The journalist added that in July and August, more than 2,550 soldiers were taken from the 155th Brigade to replenish other units, and in October the brigade left for training in France.
“That is, they took away almost all the fully fit people from the brigade, who had just been appointed by the brigadier and combatants, and effectively zeroed out all the previous four months of work, in March-June, meaning that this brigade was reorganized in August, and then… they issued an order to prepare everyone who remained for the trip to France at the end of September,” Butusov noted.
According to him, 1924 servicemen from the 155th Brigade were sent to France for training, only 51 of them had more than a year of military service, 459 had up to a year of experience, and the majority, 1414, were just enlisted and served for less than 2 months. He points out that 150 people were sent for training even without undergoing basic military training. In total, according to the journalist, about 50 soldiers of the brigade went to the NWC during the training.
According to Butusov, “thousands of new people” continued to be enrolled in the brigade while the entire brigade command was abroad, and in October and November “more than 700 people escaped from the brigade immediately after being enrolled.” The other 4,000 recruits lived on the territory of the training center of the ‘West’ military command, trained by instructors sent there by the military command.
The brigade’s rank-and-file personnel who were in training began returning to Ukraine on November 15, while the brigade’s headquarters stayed behind to complete staff training and arrived back on November 30. Butusov stated that in the absence of the brigade headquarters and combatants, the command of the ‘West’ and the CSR began to transfer “untrained and uncoordinated people” to the Pokrovsk area.
According to Butusov, the CSR commission blamed the brigade commander Ryumshyn for the escape of 50 soldiers to France. He, as well as several staff officers and one of the combatants, were removed from office and new commanders were appointed. At the same time, in the first week of December, even before the brigade entered the battle, 198 more accidents occurred, and “from the first day of combat missions, significant losses of people began due to poor management and training.”
Butusov noted that 95 percent of the brigade’s commanders had not fought, and 100 percent of the brigade’s technical specialists had to be trained from scratch. Also, in the past 9 months, the 155th Brigade has had 7 headquarters changes.
In addition, according to the journalist, the brigade had no electronic warfare equipment, and the combat vehicles were not equipped with grills.
“As a result, the brand new Leopard-2A4 tanks and VAB armored vehicles were damaged by enemy drones during the first attempts to use them at the front. The VAB armored vehicles and AMX-10 tanks were not even inspected upon arrival at the border, which caused many technical problems. The division of the newest 155 mm Caesar self-propelled artillery systems, all other brigade artillery and mortar launchers did not have time to complete a full-fledged firing course and are learning to fire while performing combat missions. All the 120 mm mortar shells produced by the Ministry of Strategic Industries that were issued to the brigade were defective. on December 4, during test firing, none of the 10 mines exploded. The mortars could not provide fire support, there was nothing to train the mortar operators with, the Ministry of Defense does not control the supply of mines to the troops and does not remove defective mines,” the article says.
In conclusion, Butusov noted that most of the soldiers of the 155th Mechanized Brigade at the front are trying to perform their duties honestly, but due to negligence, the brigade has suffered significant losses from the first days. He called for “forcing the authorities to ban the formation of new brigades that are not equipped with anything, to stop the harmful PR projects of the authorities in the army, and to direct all our resources to replenish combat-ready and experienced brigades and battalions.”
Butusova emphasized that the 155th Brigade needs maximum assistance to save its men.
It should be noted that there are a lot of announcements about soldiers from the 155th Brigade in special groups searching for missing soldiers.
