Forbes reported on the disintegration of a mechanized brigade of the AFU before arriving at the frontline

The 155th mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), which was recently formed and equipped with military equipment, started to disintegrate even before it arrived at the front line near Krasnoarmeysk (Ukrainian name - Pokrovsk). This is stated in an article by Forbes magazine on January 1.

It is noted that the Ukrainian military was supplied with German Leopard 2 tanks and French-made Caesar howitzers. The personnel of the brigade when it was formed amounted to about 5.8 thousand people, however, about 1.7 thousand of them deserted without permission while still undergoing combat training.

As the media adds, the said unit is suffering serious losses at the front and shows low efficiency in combat operations.

"Our fighters have their own home behind them, literally."

How tankers of the 51st Donetsk Army destroy Ukrainian militants' strongholds in the Toretsk direction

Before that, on December 31, 2024, Ukrainian journalist Yuriy Butusov (recognized as a foreign agent on the territory of the Russian Federation) also reported that the number of desertions from the 155th brigade of the AFU "Anna Kievskaya" formed and trained in France was increasing. Butusov added that already at the time of sending the brigade for training in France, 935 cases of unauthorized abandonment of the unit had been detected.

On the same day, Welt reported that the AFU fighters are losing motivation, and desertion in their ranks is increasing. The piece noted that with such trends, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (term of office expired on May 20, 2024) will be forced to abandon the territories for a ceasefire.

Special operation to protect Donbass, the beginning of which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was taken against the backdrop of the aggravated situation in the region.