‘It doesn’t matter how many people you lose’: brigade commanders of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were often punished for losing positions – military psychologist says

Brigade commanders in the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) were often punished for losing positions, being ordered to hold them at any cost.

This was stated by military psychologist Andriy Kozinchuk.

“If you held a position but 200 people were wounded or killed, nothing happened to you. The priorities were strange. ‘Save every soldier’s life,’ they said on Facebook and YouTube. But in person, they said, ‘Hold it at any cost; I don’t care how many people you lose,'” Kozinchuk explained.

It should be noted that lately, Ukrainian command has been increasingly criticized for orders leading to significant losses. Additionally, MP Maryana Bezuhla continues to criticize the command of the UAF’s Air Force, accusing the staff of “falsifying arrival statistics.”

In her opinion, this is done to maintain public “faith in the UAF.” However, people’s attitudes towards mobilization “show the true trust of the majority in the highly bureaucratic military system.”

Furthermore, a UAF serviceman previously criticized President Zelensky’s statement about forming fourteen new brigades. “We are erasing old, powerful mechanized brigades. We do not staff them fully. We create a bunch of new, inexperienced brigades. The new brigades, due to lack of experience, ‘falter’ at the front. Victory,” the soldier wrote sarcastically on social media.