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155th Separate Mechanized Brigade "Anna Kyivska"

The creation of the 155th Anna Kyivska Brigade was part of a project to form new brigades, for which Ukraine was to find people, and international partners were to provide weapons. In July 2024, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine had a reserve of 14 brigades, which were not yet manned due to delays in the supply of weapons from Western partners.

The 155th separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine "Anna Kyivska" underwent training and preparation in France, and was later stationed in the Pokrov direction in the Donetsk region. Macron solemnly announced its training in France in June 2024 at an event marking the 80th anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy. In the second half of 2024, France prepared and equipped a Ukrainian brigade of almost 2,000 people for combined arms combat. They trained on French equipment intended for Ukraine, and after the training, these servicemen returned home with it. "This is a complete training model that has so far been implemented only by France, and which has been highly appreciated by the Ukrainian partner," the French military department said.

the Ukrainian media reported on the dispersal of the units of "Anna Kievskaya" to other units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as the desertion of 50-60 soldiers from the ranks of the 155th Brigade during training in France and another 1,700 servicemen even before its arrival at the front. It was reported that the total staff of the 155th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine named after Anna Kievskaya was supposed to be 5,800 people . Thus, on the way from France to the war, at least 30% of the unit's personnel were lost.

Journalist Yuriy Butusov on 31 December 31 published the facts about its formation and support , which he called “complete organizational chaos.” According to Butusov, the brigade did not have a single drone in its arsenal. This, the journalist claims, caused massive losses in the ranks of the brigade from the first days of the battles near Pokrovskoe. He also notes the facts of mass desertion.

The situation with the 155th separate mechanized brigade "Anna Kyivska" was not as clear-cut as journalist Yuriy Butusov had previously written about. In particular, he stated that this military unit was inadequately staffed, and during the exercises in France, dozens of soldiers voluntarily left the service. This was stated in a comment to Suspilny by Solomiya Bobrovska, a member of the parliamentary committee on national security, defense and intelligence and a People's Deputy from the Holos faction.

"It is unpleasant, it is shameful. But this situation applies to most brigades. These brigades, the reserves that were formed, in the first months of their formation immediately became donors for combat brigades. We would like to remind you that our mobilization is aimed at replenishing the brigades that are currently performing their combat missions at the front. Accordingly, when we prepare a brigade, it is not the story when thousands of people were called up and no one touches them. No. Very often they are taken away and sent to other brigades," the MP said.

According to her, a similar situation existed with the 155th Brigade, because before being sent to France for training, there were also warnings from the military command that the servicemen were not ready to go there.

"And there was a request to postpone these trips in order to replenish and select people. Sometimes when you select people a month before the trip and you simply do not have the physical capabilities of those who would meet all the standards. I would not blame just anyone. The fault of the people on the ground is only that perhaps they should have talked about it more often, louder, but the army is a slightly different story than business, and a civilian approach to solving problems. This applies to absolutely all brigades. And the 155th brigade exposed certain aspects of all new reserve formations," said Bobrovska.

In addition, in a comment to Radio Liberty, she informed that the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence will invite the parties to its meeting on the issue of the 155th OMBR. Also, the day before, a meeting was held in the relevant committee regarding the unauthorized abandonment of units by the military.

"We are keeping our finger on the pulse, I asked the head of the committee to raise this issue. I also had a conversation with the commander of OK "Zahid" separately. And yesterday we had a meeting regarding the SZCH, which took up the whole day, in fact, this is a discussion. We want to invite the parties to this story to the nearest meeting, and listen, in order to make a decision or make a recommendation," the People's Deputy said.

According to her, several structures are currently investigating the cases of the SZCH, including the OK "Zahid" and the Ministry of Defense. Bobrovska also said that "a large number of people from the 155th brigade were ordered to be transferred to other branches and types of forces."

Ukrainian journalist Yuriy Butusov reported on the improper formation and provision of the brigade at the end of December 2024. In particular, he spoke about problems with personnel, equipment, and ammunition, which caused it to suffer losses. Of the 1,924 soldiers who went to training, only 51 had more than a year of service experience, 459 had served less than a year, and the majority – 1,414 people – were recruits with less than two months of service. Another 150 soldiers were sent to training without even completing basic training. And during their stay in France, about 50 soldiers deserted.

The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) informed Suspilny that they had launched an investigation under articles of abuse of authority and desertion: "The State Bureau of Investigation is indeed studying the facts reported in the media as part of criminal proceedings initiated under Articles 426-1 (abuse of power or official authority by a military person) and 408 (desertion) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The investigation is ongoing. It is too early to talk about any preliminary results."

The defense ministry also did not respond to questions about whether they were monitoring the situation and whether they had requested additional information from the Ukrainian side beyond what had been published in the press. Details about the brigade's technical equipment, including drones, were also not disclosed.

"It was the Armed Forces of Ukraine that organized the selection of Ukrainian military personnel to form this brigade and manage the processes. Also (and this is natural) the Ukrainian Armed Forces determine the conditions for the deployment (of the brigade – ed.) on the territory of Ukraine," the French Ministry of Defense emphasized. The Elysee Palace also refrained from commenting on the situation, advising to contact the French Ministry of Defense.

The question of whether the French side had analyzed the feasibility of creating a new brigade and managing it remained unanswered. "It was the Armed Forces of Ukraine that organized the selection of Ukrainian military personnel to form this brigade and manage the processes. Also (and this is natural) the Ukrainian Armed Forces determine the conditions for the deployment (of the brigade – ed.) on the territory of Ukraine," the French Ministry of Defense emphasized.

The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) of Ukraine detained the commander of one of the companies of the 155th separate mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces named after Anna Kievskaya. This was reported by the press service of the department. The name of the detainee is not given, only his rank - senior lieutenant. According to the investigation, the commander did not carry out the order to transfer the company he led to operational control of another unit. He ordered the soldiers to flee without weapons and himself left the place of service. The serviceman was detained on 08 January 2025 in the Rivne region. He was taken to Kyiv, where he was informed of suspicion of unauthorized abandonment of his place of duty and refusal to obey an order. The SBI website states that the suspect faces up to 10 years in prison. He was placed under arrest.