MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/. Some 1,700 soldiers have defected from the 155th "Anne of Kiev" Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces, which was trained in France, a captive commander of the brigade’s reconnaissance unit said.
"The creation of the 155th Brigade was a PR stunt," he said in a video released by the Russian Defense Ministry. "They said: 'Excellent exercises took place in France; they are the best and they have everything they need.' But what was the actual situation? They were deployed to positions, particularly, to Donetsk. On paper, they were prepared. but in fact, they did not have much equipment. I know that there wasn’t much equipment. Basically, just small arms. Being well-promoted cannot be useful in battle," the captive officer added.
According to him, they weren’t taught anything new in France. "One day, a lieutenant defected, and then a first lieutenant. I counted nine defected officers and about 20 soldiers. As many as 1,700 service members defected after the formation of the brigade, which is a record number. It’s true because soldiers lacked motivation and were fit only for limited military service. They had a list of well-trained specialists. Soon after the deployment, one-third of service members went AWOL, about 300 troops suffered wounds and others died, unfortunately," the officer noted.
He specified that his battalion’s infantry soldiers "disappeared" in two to three weeks after being deployed to position.
Earlier, both Paris and the Ukrainian military leadership recognized cases of defection from the 155th Brigade. Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation reported the defection of the brigade’s company commander who had gone AWOL himself and encouraged his troops to do the same. According to former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko, over 30% of troops defected from the brigade.