Despite decision of Supreme Commander-in-Chief’s HQ, manning of new 156th Mechanized Brigade continues - Butusov
Supreme Commander-in-Chief's HQ decided to suspend the formation of new brigades and send replenishment to already established and experienced brigades.
This was reported on Facebook by the Editor-in-Chief of Censor.NET, Yurii Butusov.
According to him, over the past two days, a number of experienced brigades in important areas have received combat orders to replenish their personnel, with deadlines ranging from three days to two weeks.
"The orders specify the number of new recruits, and we will now monitor the progress of their implementation to inform Supreme Commander-in-Chief's HQ about the real state of affairs. This is a real positive change that was made possible thanks to the wide publicity and support of civil society. I am grateful to all the members of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's HQ who supported this decision," he said in a statement.
At the same time, Butusov said that the fact of non-implementation of the decision of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's HQ was recorded. Thus, the recruitment of personnel for the new 156th Mechanised Brigade continues. It is also being formed by the command of the Western OC, which formed and sent the 155th Mechanised Brigade to the front.
"Unfortunately, the methods of manning, methods and terms of training are just as inadequate as in the case of the 155th Brigade. The commander of the 'West' OC, Shvediuk, continues to hold his post.
Now I am receiving letters from servicemen, who are sending me data on the number of AWOL cases in the newly formed brigades and those that will be committed to battle in 2024: 140th Infantry, 150th Infantry, and so on," Butusov said.
He also promises to make this data public in the near future so that people can see how many people are deserting precisely because of the poor organization and control of the new units.
"I am asking the responsible members of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's HQ to raise the issue of the need to strictly implement the decision made by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's HQ to send people exclusively to experienced combat brigades and battalions," the journalist concludes.
Read more about the situation in the 155th Brigade in the article "The Case of Anna Kyivska: Lessons from the newly formed brigades".
The situation in the 155th Brigade
As a reminder, on January 1, 2025, Censor.NET editor-in-chief Yurii Butusov outlined a number of facts about the circumstances of the formation and functioning of the 155th mechanized brigade "Anne of Kyiv", which entered the battle near Pokrovsk and suffered significant losses there.
According to him, the 155th Brigade faced a number of problems: before the first battle, 1700 soldiers left it without permission, the brigade commander was fired immediately after the battle, and one of the brigade's leaders died of a heart attack.
Butusov conducted a lengthy investigation to find out what exactly led to the significant losses among the brigade's personnel and equipment and the massive AWOL.
In October, the 155th Brigade left for training in France. 1924 soldiers were sent there, of whom only 51 had more than a year of military service experience, 459 had up to a year of experience, and the majority, 1414, were just enlisted and served for less than 2 months, about 150 people were sent to France even without undergoing the BGMT (basic general military training). About 50 military brigades fled to France.
The editor-in-chief of Censor.NET also reports that the brigade was not provided with the necessary weapons. In particular, the brigade did not receive any drones from the state to perform combat missions. Also, according to Butusov, there were no electronic warfare equipment. The brigade was supplied by volunteers.
In addition, all the 120 mm mortar shells produced by the Ministry of Strategic Industries that were issued to the brigade were faulty.
On January 2, it became known that the State Bureau of Investigation had launched an investigation into the massive unauthorized leaving of a unit in the 155th Anne of Kyiv Brigade after relevant media reports appeared. In turn, the French Ministry of Defense did not comment on the information that the 155th Anne of Kyiv Brigade, trained by the French armed forces, was the subject of an investigation in Ukraine.
Also in early January, it became known about the results of a meeting of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Staff regarding the 155th Brigade "Anne of Kyiv".
On January 5, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, promised to increase the capabilities of the 155th Brigade and admitted that there were problems that needed to be solved.
Yurii Butusov, editor-in-chief of Censor.NET, said that the formation of new brigades without providing them with supplies is a gross mistake that cost the country dearly.
