Critical situation that requires immediate decisions: Butusov on fighting near Pokrovsk and Kurakhove
The stream of Censor.NET editor-in-chief Yurii Butusov is dedicated to the situation at the frontline in the area of Pokrovsk and Kurakhove.
First of all, the situation in the Donetsk sector attracts attention. The situation there is critical in three areas, and the fighting is very heavy in the area of Velyka Novosilka. However, Pokrovsk and Kurakhove are particularly hot today. With regard to Kurakhove, the situation is critical and requires immediate solutions. But there are no solutions.
Today, the commander of the OTG "Donetsk" was finally changed - General Tarnavskyi was appointed instead of General Oleksandr Lutsenko. As for my assessment, I do not expect any immediate changes in these events from this decision. Obviously, this is a consequence of the fact that there was simply public pressure that demanded changes in the "Donetsk" OTG. After all, there have been no tasks, no changes in the situation for a long time. And this is the responsibility of not only General Lutsenko. At the beginning of the war, Lutsenko commanded one of our most capable units, the 79th Air Assault Brigade. Life happens that not every leader who is a company commander, battalion commander, sometimes even a brigade commander, can fulfil their tasks and receive favourable assessments. There is no drama in this.
The senior commanders who directly interfered with the issuance of orders at the tactical level also bear joint responsibility for what is happening in the area and for the orders given there. These include the commander of the OSGT "Khortytsia", General Hnatov, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi. Also, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Volodymyr Zelenskyy came to Pokrovsk specifically. He holds almost weekly meetings of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's office, where the situation in the OTG "Donetsk" is considered. And it is obvious that for a long time these meetings were fruitless and the situation was different. The HQ did not control the situation, decisions were made from top to bottom that were inadequate to the situation, and now, under pressure from public opinion, it was decided to remove the commander of the OTG "Donetsk" so that people would not be outraged, and the military would not be outraged.
I would like to remind you that the chief of staff of the OTG "Donetsk" remains the infamous Colonel Ledovyi, who proved to be absolutely inept in the OTG "Luhansk", and instead of removing this person from command of the troops and giving him some position where he would at least gain some experience of commanding at the level of the brigade headquarters, he was put in the headquarters of OTG "Luhansk". And this was done by Oleksandr Syrskyi, General Hnatov, the commander of the OSGT "Khortytsia". Therefore, we do not know whether there will be any changes in the organisation of the headquarters, whether Tarnavskyi will be allowed to change something and be independent at least a little bit. We are interested in results, not just some person in a position.
Let's look at what exactly the command of the OTG "Donetsk" should influence, where the situation is critical right now. First of all, what is happening near Kurakhovo - it is scary to look at the map and see what is happening there without the intervention of the military leadership.
Situation near Kurakhove
The fighting is going on in the city, heavy fighting, but the situation is critical south of Kurakhove. The enemy has managed to break into Uspenivka, and in fact our units are in an operational encirclement. This is simply a situation that requires immediate solutions. The highest military command in this area is not taking adequate measures, neither the OTG "Donetsk" , OSGT "Khortytsia" nor the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. I have done everything possible. I'm not mentioning of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Office, it's always an empty space. It is supposed to control such situations, ask questions of military commanders, and make immediate decisions. But this map shows that the existence of our highest governing bodies, such as the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Office, is a completely empty place that has no influence on the development of the situation. It's just scary to look at this situation. Just imagine how the people on the ground are fighting in all kinds of conditions. In other words, from all sides, it is actually an operational environment. It is possible to go there, to this small pocket, only on foot. There is no proper communication there. Drone strikes are constantly hitting our troops from all sides. Artillery shelling, attacks from all sides. Our defence capabilities are limited, and it is inconvenient for us to defend ourselves in this area because we are actually surrounded. This operational environment is called what we see on the map. When you are not completely surrounded, and you can still somehow get out through the fields, but in fact, the enemy can see all your supply routes and shoot from all sides.
I expect Volodymyr Zelenskyy to remember his powers, that he is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief not because he can come somewhere and take a photo somewhere, that he is with the military in uniform, but that he is responsible for the lives of his subordinates, the military. So what does the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Office do if some military leaders are following absurd orders to hold uncomfortable positions that are disadvantageous for us in every sense. How can this be? Why don't the senior military commanders who give such orders try to go there themselves, not to the trenches at least, but to the company's control and observation point. All the companies' control and observation points are under constant attack there. The enemy is constantly inflicting damage, taking out communications, taking out control. It is absolutely impossible to conduct combat operations in such conditions. Our losses for holding such disadvantageous positions are higher than the losses of the enemy who attacks them. Is it necessary to graduate from a military academy for this? Why then wipe your pants in the army for 20-30 years of service, graduate from the academy and talk about military education, if such absolutely unfavourable conditions of combat are allowed for our troops? And people are kept there. This is absurd.
This map is a demonstration of the irresponsibility of the the military leadership and the Presidential Staff for the lives of Ukrainian citizens. Absolute irresponsibility.
General situation in Kurakhove
There is fighting near Pokrovsk. The enemy has already advanced south of Pokrovsk. It is now about 5 kilometres closer to the border with the Dnipropetrovsk region. There is a real threat that the enemy will reach the Pokrovsk-Dnipro highway. We need to immediately strengthen our defences there. Meanwhile, our troops are fighting south of Kurakhove and are surrounded. There are no orders to withdraw. Holding Kurakhove itself is no longer profitable. We are actually in conditions where it is impossible to hold it. Because the enemy has advanced much further. And this supply route to Kurakhove is under constant drone strikes. It's not passable even with electronic warfare. Vehicles have to find ways around it, and mostly people have to go in. It's like a separate combat operation just to get there.
What's going on here? The same as always. This has already happened near Avdiivka and Bakhmut. Instead of retreating to prepared positions in time, deploying, meeting the enemy and destroying it, our most capable TRO units, units of the 79th Air Assault Brigade, 46th Airmobile Brigade, 152nd Brigade, 157th Brigade are simply wiping out the most capable fighters in unfavourable combat conditions, in these empty landings. And then, when it comes to consolidating and stopping the enemy's further advance, there will be no people. And again, Zelenskyy, Syrskyi and other generals will start telling us that people don't want to join the army, there are not enough people, give us more people. The way you use people, you will never have enough of them. It's as if someone like that, if the Commander-in-Chief had sent a combined company or platoon from the 95th quarter to Kurakhove and then received information about how long they could stay there. I would still understand the need for these actions. But why? The map shows that you cannot hold these positions. Why this endless sacrifice? Well, it's not profitable and you can't hold on to it. It's just a loss. And then we have a situation, as I told you in my last stream, when the enemy enters our fortified area near Shevchenko without a fight. They wipe out combat-ready people in the landings, then the unit rolls back, there is no one to hold the positions, and there is no one to bring to the defence line where it was possible to fight. And this rake run goes on and on. Near Avdiivka, two defence lines were surrendered, as well as the defence positions near Novohrodivka, because the units that could have withdrawn there were wiped out earlier.
Then why are these billions of hryvnias spent on the defence line? Well, there is no defence line, they are digging individual positions there. Okay, so you don't even occupy these separate positions with troops, but this is absurd. Who should be responsible for this, for this coordination? If you ask the military, they say it's not us, it's the civil-military administrations that have been built, which are subordinate to the president. If you ask the Civil-Military Administration, they say it's not us, it's the military. We have a great explanation in the state: there are no responsible people, no management. Sometimes there are photos of the president coming to Zaporizhzhia and holding a meeting of the Headquarters. Why are there battles near Kurakhove? Why not come to Kurakhove? If there are battles in the city and orders are given to keep the landings near the city, why not to go there? It would be interesting, instructive for everyone. Just try to drive in once. You would immediately understand the situation, the conditions of the battle. Why did you go from Kyiv to Zaporizhzhia? There are no battles in Zaporizhzhia. Everything is near Pokrovske, near Kurakhove. You have to go there. You have to see the situation with your own eyes if you don't have an adequate perception.
It is now clear that our troops need to withdraw from Kurakhove, from the environment that is unfavourable to us. And we need to take at least those positions on the heights that we have managed to dig out. We can't fight in the field again, as we are now fighting near Pokrovsk. When we surrendered a few fortified positions, our infantry is now in the field, in the cold, in the snow, digging holes for themselves with shovels, while Russian troops are advancing, sitting in our dugouts. Where our troops have never entered. So now we are in a situation where we will see if we have a very quick response, literally today, this is the question of the day.
If General Tarnavskyi is at all an independent person, adequate in the situation, he should immediately give the order and withdraw the units. Organised, on time. We missed the moment when we could have withdrawn them in perfect order. Now we need to save people.
Situation in the area of Pokrovsk
"Deepstate" detects changes in the situation. The grey zone is the area where the fighting is currently taking place. Today and yesterday (12 and 13 December - ed.), the enemy stormed the positions between Shevchenko and Novotroitske as closely as possible. Heavy fighting is taking place in Novotroitske and Shevchenko. And the enemy is trying to break through to Pishchane between these two villages. The situation is still critical, as the enemy is conducting its actions based on our fortified area, where they are now quietly deploying their forces, which they entered without a fight. The enemy continues active operations, and reserves are being moved here. The enemy understands that the situation is quite vulnerable for him and is trying to expand the wedge he drove into our defences south of Pokrovsk and capture all our fortified positions that are either occupied or not yet occupied by our units. The situation is not favourable for us now, but if we want to defend Pokrovsk, we will have to fight there, in these villages and in these empty landings, because otherwise the enemy, if they completely capture the village of Shevchenko, will move on to Pishchane, and this will create a threat that drones will simply start bombarding our Dnipro-Pokrovsk road, just like in Kurakhove. And it will be extremely difficult to hold the city.
Now the soldiers of the 495th separate assault battalion "Skala" are fighting in Shevchenko and Novotroitske. This battalion is restoring the situation with its main forces, and thanks to these fighters, we are still holding both Shevchenko and Novotroitske. Also actively operating in the area together, doing everything possible, even more than one could expect - The 32nd Mechanised Brigade, which has been formed and replenished almost from scratch, with a large number of our mobilised soldiers, is also fighting heroically in this area. And some units of the 155th Mechanised Brigade are helping them.
Our troops in this area are still not provided with drones, so I want to thank the channel's viewers and readers once again for the fact that, in principle, my fund has already received UAH 3.5 million, and with this money, thanks to these fundraisings, we will be able to order 14 Mavic 3T drones with a thermal imaging camera and a batch of Avenger antennas to strengthen the drone signal for the troops in this direction in the near future. Unfortunately, the supply of drones along the entire frontline is a big problem, but it is especially evident in the areas of the enemy's main efforts, where the Russians have an advantage in situational awareness. Russian commanders have more drones than Ukrainian commanders.
Russian assault groups are so active because Russian commanders are leading them. People with two weeks of training are thrown into battle, and they are simply thrown into battle under the threat of execution for 200,000 rubles a month, and they have no way of evading their tasks, because otherwise they will be shot. So, the Russians have an advantage in awareness, and they direct these groups precisely, because they all go exclusively under the drone. Our commanders cannot send all units under the drone, because there are not enough drones. We have big problems with the organisation of the surveillance system. There are not enough drones physically. First of all, reconnaissance drones. And drones with drops. That is, these Mavic 3, Mavic 3T, Autel 4T, Autel 4N. These drones, which are very important for our army, have not been supplied centrally to this area. And there are no other methods of replenishment other than volunteer assistance. I am very grateful that several local government leaders responded quickly. Today, the 155th Brigade and soon the 32nd Brigade will receive assistance and more will be provided by the Dnipro City Council, the mayor of Dnipro, Borys Filatov, and some other cities. As far as I know, the mayor of Lutsk has also sent a batch of drones, and the mayor of Chortkiv may also send another batch. Several cities have responded to this critical situation near Pokrovsk. They are helping to save the situation.
I hope that, in addition to local self-government, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Office will pay attention to the situation. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Defence Minister Rustem Umerov. Billions are being allocated to repair various facilities and build a memorial cemetery. And why can't we find a few million to help living people with drones? Why is there more than a billion allocated for the cemetery, while at the same time at least one or two hundred million hryvnias cannot be allocated for drones for living people? What kind of absurd logic is this? Why is money allocated for the dead because they want to report, and nothing is done to help the living? At least there should be some kind of balance. You can build a cemetery - no question! But at least give a small number of drones. Since seventy-seven billion hryvnias were taken away from local governments in 2023, seventy-seven billion hryvnias of personal income tax, which went from all law enforcement, judicial, and security agencies to local budgets under the law of Ukraine, the central government, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the "Servant of the People" party have collected from all cities and villages and spent, as they said, on strengthening armies, on drones, on ammunition. Seventy-seven billion, where are these billions? Previously, each brigade could apply to the local government and receive a constant, stable supply of drones. Now this is not the case, who can they turn to? Defence Minister Umerov is an empty seat, he does not respond. Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting of the Chiefs of Staff and yesterday he said that we have to give money to the brigade commanders. He said this for the second time. Yes, you have to give money, because you took away the money of brigade commanders a year ago. Now a year has passed, and the president says we have to give it back. Yes, you have to, you haven't given it back, give it.
Empty words, talk, but Zelenskyy has money for his friends when they need a construction contract. There is no money for drones for the troops, you need to record a lot of videos. The resilience plan was announced, they said we would give money to brigade commanders. Then a visit to Zaporizhzhia. Brigade commanders need money. Yes, give them money, why are you talking about this? Give it at least to those who are now near Kurakhove and Pokrovsk. Just empty chatter, talk, videos, press releases. There is no actions.
Answers to questions
Can the situation change in any way if the country's top leadership is not changed?
It's hard to say. It is impossible to change anything systematically. We simply see that Zelenskyy is shirking any responsibility for the fate of people. No losses make any impression on him. Personnel changes are happening very slowly, but these people are not allowed to work. I believe only in one thing: that our horizontal communications work effectively. It works here when unit commanders can create order in their unit, negotiate and do something. And civil society somehow supports the most media-friendly leaders and commanders. I don't see any systemic changes yet.
We see the situation near Pokrovsk. You can look up my broadcasts and articles during the battles near Avdiivka and Bakhmut. In general, the problems are the same. I'm repeating myself, unfortunately. But I can't help but repeat myself, because if we don't start drawing conclusions, people's lives will continue to be lost. I just can't even say on air now, because this information is important for the enemy, about our real losses in all areas. They are very significant. It is because of the unfavourable battle conditions.
Can you go to the control observation point to see what's going on?
I never talk about the situation if I have not been to these COPs myself. I speak in such detail because I communicate there, on the spot. I know those who are performing the tasks, who are leaving. And whenever there is an opportunity and the situation allows, I try to go to the frontline positions myself. Now it's just sometimes difficult, because every time I go to the frontline position, it's like a separate combat operation that requires quite complex interaction. Because in some areas, the number of enemy drones is such that when you go out, it requires a lot of attention from other people. But, of course, I visit each COP, and believe me, you can see everything I say. The military, those who work there, who perform, they watch, they support me, and that's why I'm talking about it.
Why are you talking about K-2, the "Svoboda" battalion of the National Guard and not the 81st Brigade?
I have repeatedly spoken about the 81st Brigade, which is north of Siversk and holds Bilohorivka. The last settlement in Luhansk Oblast is a significant one, so I have respect for this brigade. So far, I cannot visit the brigade because there are certain restrictions and a very complicated procedure for approval to go somewhere. That's a feature of the Air Assault Brigade command. So I just haven't been there and couldn't do anything for a long time. But at the beginning of the war, when I was in Sieverodonetsk together with the soldiers of the 81st Brigade and took part in the fighting, I spoke about this brigade many times and I have interviews with the soldiers and more than one interview on the channel. It's just that where you can see the situation better and where there is such a defence area, I was talking about the battles for Siversk. Therefore, when you talk about the battle for Siversk, about the dominant height that controls Siversk, you are talking about the K-2 battalion and the "Svoboda" battalion. This is obvious. I did not talk about Bilohorivka, so I did not talk about the 81st Brigade. But they are also heroically fighting there and inflicting heavy losses on the enemy. So I can only express my gratitude.
What other steps, apart from replacement, should be taken to improve the situation in the Donetsk sector?
I've talked a lot about the management of the troops, and we need to at least restore responsibility there, which of the leaders is responsible. I would like to hear who is responsible for this situation. I would like to hear a general say: "I am responsible, I am taking such and such measures." Because when you start talking to people there, one person says at their level that they don't know this or that, and they give such orders, but they carry out these. And then you start talking to people at the tactical level, and they say that they receive orders from the top. Complete irresponsibility. As soon as we have problems at the front, our leaders are like ostriches: everyone gets scared, runs away, and no one says: "It's me!" Everyone says: "It's not me". That's the general reaction. So what are the changes? Organisational and managerial measures, they are obvious. I had a whole broadcast on this topic, which was linked to Pokrovsk, and I talked about it in detail, I have an article, everything is clearly arranged in points. I have only talked about the main things, according to the commanders and soldiers at the front. That's why we need comprehensive actions.
The only thing I would like to say is that changes will begin when there is responsibility. We do not have it. Instead of saying: "I am discussing the situation in this area at the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Office," Volodymyr Zelenskyy should say: "I have taken responsibility. I have controlled how many drones my government and my minister had sent to this or that section of the frontline." We never hear such specifics from Zelenskyy. General phrases with nothing behind them, no decisions. And people are naively waiting, they think that if the president talks about Pokrovsk 2-3 times every week, he is doing something. Then we see a complete mess, chaos, both in Kurakhove and Pokrovsk. Irresponsibility from the top breeds irresponsibility from the bottom. Then the Commander-in-Chief, the commander of the OSGT, the commander of the OTG, the commander of the "Pokrovsk" tactical group speak about themselves in the same way as the president. And they all show that it was not me, I was given an order there. And I couldn't do it here, because I was given such an order. And they say from the top that we have given them the authority, but they are doing something wrong. It's a complete chaos.
Who is in charge of the war in our country? If you look at it, of course, we have someone who shoots videos, photographs, hands out orders and writes reports that he has held a meeting of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Office - it is Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He is responsible for PR, as I understand it. Well, this is the function of a war spokesperson. And who is responsible for the Constitution? Zelenskyy should be responsible for managing the war. Well, he's not doing that. Well, who is responsible for ensuring that people, resources, and means are used in a comprehensive manner, that lessons are learnt from this war, that conclusions are drawn from the same mistakes? There is no such person in the state. Therefore, we can only rely on horizontal communication and responsible commanders who take responsibility and are able to be leaders in their brigades and battalions.
What to expect after the loss of Kurakhove? Where will the enemy go next?
The enemy will now focus on capturing Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad. And on the capture of Velyka Novosilka. And then it will go further, to the Dnipropetrovsk region and Zaporizhzhia region. These are the enemy's priority tasks. They will do everything to reach Zaporizhzhia through the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions. Since Putin has written in the Constitution that Zaporizhzhia is part of the Russian Federation, they will not stop after clearing this flank to the borders of Donetsk region. They will go further and do everything to capture Zaporizhzhia by military force. And to drive our troops out of the entire Donetsk region. That is, after Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad, they will go on to attack Dobropillia, they will go on to Mezhova in the Dnipropetrovsk region. So the offensive will continue, and you just need to look at the map to predict it.
Will Tarnavskyi have time to properly organize the defense of Pokrovsk?
No one knows what Tarnavskyi will do. Tarnavskyi is the commander of the OTG "Donetsk", Pokrovsk is directly under the command of Pavlo Fedosenko, the commander of the Pokrovsk tactical group, and we also have OSGT. What will they do, how will they do it? The favourable lines in the defence of Pokrovsk have already been surrendered. The enemy is three kilometres away from Myrnohrad, which is actually the same agglomeration with Pokrovsk, five kilometres away from Pokrovsk itself. And a favourable defence line in the south of Pokrovsk has already been given to the Russian troops. We have the capabilities, but now we need people and resources to build this defence line in an open field in December, under the snow and in the frozen ground. Can this be done effectively? The experience of how we lost Vuhledar and Bakhmut shows that it is no longer possible to build an adequate defence line on frozen ground in winter. But it is possible to effectively conduct defensive operations. Because the enemy also makes a lot of tactical mistakes, goes head-on, with infantry, and suffers heavy losses. It can be stopped, it is possible to destroy them all. Because these actions are also disadvantageous for the offensive. Well, it's a counterattack, let's see. Here, we simply need to manage the troops, organise them, and take responsibility. Will it be done? Tarnavskyi, all our generals, are very politically dependent people. Let's see how he will organise his work. If he keeps Ledovyi as his chief of staff, there is no chance of organising defence or anything else. Because this person is absolutely not fit to lead the troops, according to our commanders.
Why is everyone talking about negotiations when guys are dying every day? It demotivates.
This is an informational political game: instead of talking about reality, about the deaths of our soldiers, the heavy losses and the fact that every day we are forced to give up part of our land to the enemy, politicians in Kyiv want to talk about what is pleasant for them. Zelenskyy likes to say that the Americans are not giving us anything again. That they haven't given us money or some other weapons, we already have F-16s, we have shells and missiles. Still not enough, not given, not given, not given, not given. And to talk about negotiations. Because all populists, instead of influencing reality, they try to sell the public on inflated expectations. They are trying to sell expectations. And these talks about negotiations, when the offensive is ongoing, so many Ukrainians are dying every day, real heroes who are defending our country, not in words in Kyiv, but in reality. So, in order not to talk about this, to avoid it, to lie, to not tell the truth, these endless fables about victory in 2-3 weeks, 2-3 months are being thrown into society and widely spread. Now, again, 2 months later, Trump will come. These 2-3 months are a perpetual meme in Ukrainian politics. Wait 2-3 months, and then you will feel better. But Zelenskyy has been president for six years. Only Kuchma has been in office longer than him. And we have seen no changes in any area of the country, in any sphere. And here, on the frontline, the situation is only getting worse in the management. I hope for only one thing - that public opinion will become as active as possible and that people will realise as soon as possible that our government responds only to strong criticism, to great publicity, when they are constantly being imposed on models of correct decisions from all sides, imposed the appointment of leaders who have authority, and only then will they do something. There is no other way. That's why I am doing these broadcasts, and I am thanking everyone for supporting our work and the channel, because we have no other options.
However, they are fighting with people now. It is a myth to switch to incentives with money, as in Russia, because it is a myth that only money can encourage someone to risk their life. We look at the payments in Russia for people signing a contract. They give people up to 2.5 million rubles, or about $25,000, for signing a contract. And the quality of those they recruit is not just people who join for money. This is a significant number of people for whom a law has been passed in Russia that all those who are on trial are thrown into the army. All prisoners, and there are many hundreds of thousands of them in Russia, can be conscripted into the army. Therefore, there is a contingent of marginalised people in Russia who can be easily forced into the army. And there are many regions in Russia where people actually survive in very difficult conditions. These are Siberia, the Far East, a large number of abandoned villages and towns. Where $25,000 is big money that they will never see. And a 200,000 ruble salary in the Russian army is a space salary, which is 4-5 times higher than what you can earn there, in that remote area. So, of course, they have a lot of leverage to get people to join the army. But the main thing is that they have leverage because it is a totalitarian state, and all those they recruit are disciplined enough to go forward to attack with a machine gun themselves. And they survive there on the battlefield because Russia does not give them any other chances. This is a totalitarian state, and with the amount of people it has mobilised, 30,000 in a month, it can make them all into stormtroopers and send them all forward to attack. And it will not be sorry if they all die there.
Russian stormtroopers are disposable, they go to the end, they are not withdrawn until they are killed or seriously wounded. Because in Russia, they don't withdraw people with light injuries from the frontline from zero. So other conditions, money, I am sure, do not work. Moreover, I believe that money alone cannot be the main motivational tool. Because giving money... In Russia, when a person takes money, the state has a truncheon - an instrument of coercion. That's why it works.
And in our system, even unauthorised abandonment of a unit is no longer a criminal offence. And we have no control at all. Unlike Russia, we have neither coercion nor even military justice. I want to remind you that we do not have, unlike Russia, unlike even all NATO countries. NATO countries have military police, military courts, military investigations. And Ukraine does not have all this. This is a very lengthy civilian process with general jurisdiction, which can take years to investigate. Therefore, we have no legal control. Therefore, we should not repeat the Russian model. The Russian model of organisation, use of troops, coercion of people is not acceptable in Ukraine. We have different conditions, a different state, a different society. We need money, but if the state has this money, we need money to equip our troops with quality equipment. We don't have any money allocated for this. Why do we need to send crowds of people to the army when we don't have money for drones? So they create new brigades, recruit people, pay them hundreds of millions of hryvnias in salaries for months, but they don't get drones. What does this lead to? We see it now near Pokrovsk. A brigade without drones is set up, and it suffers heavy casualties, for which the budget then pays 15 million hryvnias per killed person and money for the wounded and social benefits. It's completely absurd.
The way our state is fighting, there will never be enough people. Because this is wrong, shameful, criminal use of people. We need to plan so that there are more vehicles and drones at the front than soldiers with machine guns. Only then we will have enough people. And we have a military and political leadership that only thinks about how to send someone somewhere. I'll soon tell you about the situation in the 155th Brigade, where the command of OC "West" and the Land Forces Command decided to create a show. They brought several thousand people from the street into the brigade, literally these busified. They put them in uniforms, said it was a brigade, put a competent commander in charge, but he was not given time to create a team out of this brigade. As a result, there were a large number of AWOLs, those who left without permission from among those who were shoved into this brigade from the bus. Moreover, a law was passed stating that AWOL is no longer a criminal offence. What did this lead to? A large number of people, more than a thousand, who were forced into the 155th Brigade, went home immediately upon arrival. And the brigade commander was held responsible for these busified. He was dismissed from his post. Absolutely ridiculous, absolutely no logic. They covered it, and there they would fulfill the plan, put a tick on themselves, we are great. And when there was a fuss, a scandal, they said that we fired the brigade commander and everything is fine. But for the fact that you put people who did not want to serve, who ran away from there, the commander of the OC "West", Shvydiuk, is not responsible for this. The commander of the Land Forces at the time, Pavliuk, is not responsible. Everything was done to absolve themselves of responsibility. Well, this is a typical style of our leaders, when they are not responsible for their decisions, and people are just such a small expendable material. We will make a broadcast and a post about the 155th Brigade and the events that are taking place there in the near future.
Many requests to comment on Markus' video
Firstly, last year I have already broadcast about this and talked about it. You can find what I'm talking about on my channel. All this is there, nothing has changed. There are problems, many problems, that Valerii raised in this video. Some of them are objective, affecting the entire army. Some of them are personal in nature, which I have questions about. I disagree with some of them. But, friends, what is the point? The key problem we have now is the situation at the frontline, in Pokrovsk. The situation in the 47th Brigade was relevant about 1.5 years ago. What I am saying applies to all our troops in these areas. Therefore, I will focus on something in particular. If there is a large number of questions, perhaps we will make a separate broadcast then. For now, I don't see the need.
Can you say something about the 151st Brigade?
Similarly, these 150 brigades, 140 brigades, which were created from scratch, were filled with a large number of people. All the soldiers at the front, those who serve in these brigades, have a question: "Why is our High Command creating new brigades when there is no adequate replenishment of the already existing combat-ready brigades?" They are creating new bodies that are not equipped with anything, neither command personnel nor weapons, and they do not have a permanent deployment point. They just draw in the field, budgets are written off, people are brought in, and they run away. There is no accountability. Those who serve in such brigades have only one explanation: it's just a show, corruption in these financial payments, because there is such a migration of people that it is almost impossible to control how much money is actually distributed for salaries and how much is stolen. Hundreds of people come and leave without interruption, every month.
Therefore, for me, this is an indicator that we have a show, a mediocre, incompetent management of Ukraine's defence by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Office, by Zelenskyy, who simply does not understand what the organisation of troop management is, what the organisation of resource management is during Ukraine's war, and who throws many billions of dollars down the drain without any results. But it's not just money that is wasted, people are also wasted. This is the most painful thing. That's why the 151st Brigade is, unfortunately, one of those sad examples when a brigade is created and then constantly taken away at the stage of formation. These are all the 150th and 140th brigades. They are formed in a hurry, with nothing in place, and people are driven in. Then, during the formation process, people are constantly pulled out of these brigades, shoved into different parts of the frontline, and they are not allowed to prepare or get along. They are thrown somewhere, and they are thrown to support combat-capable staff brigades with experienced commanders who have no soldiers. Because soldiers are given to new brigades instead of experienced ones. Weapons are given to new brigades instead of experienced ones. As a result, the new brigades have problems with controllability, organisation and coherence, and the old brigades lack weapons and people. In other words, instead of solving the problem, they are creating new ones. No one knows this, no one can understand it. And then such brigades as 151, 150, 152, 153, 155, 157 are being thrown into combat and it's just a constant tragedy of errors. It is very sad to see this. And this problem is not being solved.
I'm speaking frankly about this because I understand that they are now going to form new 160th brigades. This means that this madness in the leadership does not end, and they continue to spend billions of hryvnias on their fantasies, airy palaces.
Dear friends, thank you for your support. Thanks to 2630 sponsors, the "Butusov Plus" channel has already got, thanks to which we continue our work and can cover the situation at the front. We are honoured by this support and can use it. In the near future, 14 drones, which we collected, Mavіk-3T, antennas, additional equipment, will be sent to the frontline south of Pokrovsk. We will continue this work and cover it. We also have plans to cover the situation of the 155th Mechanised Brigade and the situation with combat training and the need for reform in the Land Forces of Ukraine. The new commander of the Land Forces, Mykhailo Drapatyi, is a reform-minded person, and we will see what model of changes he will choose and what he will be able to do, what he will be allowed to actually do. This will be a very important case for our entire defence system. Hopefully, in the near future, I will simply gather the views of various military commanders on combat training and we will also express what can be done now to improve the survival rate of our soldiers at the front, to improve combat training in the troops and to ensure that the state's resources are really going where they are needed, and not to maintain fake phantom structures that were created once before which work completely wasted. In the near future, I will be in the Pokrovsk-Kurakhove area to update you on the situation.
Friends, thank you for your great support, for being with us, for watching. Thank you for the broadcast and glory to Ukraine!
