Captured told about 1.7 thousand who deserted from the AFU brigade trained in France

A record number of soldiers from the 155th separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) trained in France have left their location unauthorized. Vadym Veikai, a Ukrainian prisoner of war, commander of the reconnaissance platoon of the 155th brigade, said this on January 27.

According to him, like many others, he was stopped on the street and brought to the Territorial Center for manning and social support (TCC).

"Coming out of the entrance, the police drove up, checked my data, they said that we had to go to the Uzhgorod police department. <...> We went not to the police, but to the TCC. They took me to the motorized infantry battalion and put me in the position of a reconnaissance platoon commander," Veikai said.

The Ukrainian military officer noted that the creation of the 155th separate mechanized brigade was a PR.

"They didn't have a lot of equipment. I know that there was not much equipment. In general, only small arms. And the fact that they were PR is not an indicator in combat," he pointed out.

Weikai specified that 2.4 thousand soldiers of the AFU brigade were trained in France for 55 days, but learned nothing new. In addition, the touted brigade has become one of the leaders in the number of desertions.

"Since its creation, the record number of AWOLs who left the unit, this is 1.7 thousand soldiers, was the figure. This is true because the soldiers were recruited unmotivated, limited fit. They had trained specialists on the sheet," - said the captured AFU fighter.

Earlier, on January 16, the media reported that the 155th mechanized brigade "Anna Kievskaya" of the AFU, prepared by France, failed after deployment. It was specified that 50 people deserted from the brigade already during the training. The day before, military observer David Axe reported that the AFU would not form new brigades after the collapse of the 155th brigade.

On January 8, the Ukrainian State Bureau of Investigation detained a company commander of the AFU's 155th mechanized brigade on suspicion of desertion and inciting his subordinates to defect.

The AFP news agency reported on January 6 that the French Defense Ministry confirmed several dozen cases of Ukrainian soldiers of the 155th brigade deserting during exercises in Europe.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, 2022, is ongoing. The decision was taken against the background of the aggravated situation in the region.