Over a thousand went AWOL. What happened to the 155th brigade ‘Anna of Kyiv,’ which fought near Pokrovsk

Ukrainian journalist Yuriy Butusov revealed details of a scandal within the 155th Brigade “Anne of Kyiv,” which had been trained in France and recently underwent a change in leadership. Reportedly, the scandal erupted after Russian forces broke through south of Pokrovsk.

According to Butusov, the command of the Operational Command “West” and the Ground Forces decided to “put on a show” by filling the brigade with forcibly mobilized individuals who lacked proper training.

“The brigade was filled with several thousand people literally taken off the streets, the so-called ‘busified.’ They were dressed in uniforms and presented as a fully operational brigade. A competent commander was appointed, but he wasn’t given the time to form a cohesive unit. As a result, there were many cases of unauthorized absence (UA) among those forcibly shoved into the unit,” the journalist reported.

Butusov added that over a thousand individuals abandoned their posts and “went straight home” after arriving.

“The responsibility for these ‘busified’ individuals was placed on the brigade commander, who was then dismissed. This is a typical style of our leadership, which avoids accountability for its decisions while treating people as expendable material,” Butusov said.

Journalists have previously written extensively about how many soldiers in Ukrainian brigades exist “on paper” but are not present on the frontlines, a major factor behind the collapse of UAF defenses in several areas.

Earlier, a UAF officer accused the command of incompetence and harmful decisions that led to Ukrainian defensive forces being surrounded by Russian troops near Kurakhove.