SBI detains ex-commander of 155th brigade Riumshyn - Butusov
Today, the State Bureau of Investigation is going to detain or notify several military officers of suspicion.
Censor.NET editor-in-chief Yurii Butusov posted this on Facebook.
"To the former commander of the 155th mechanised brigade "Anna of Kyiv", Colonel Dmytro Riumshyn;
Brigadier General Yurii Halushkin, former commander of Operational and Tactical Directorate of "Kharkiv";
Lieutenant General Artur Horbenko, former commander of the 125th Lviv Brigade of the Territorial Defence and former deputy commander of the 125th Brigade," he said.
According to Butusov, Riumshyn was detained in Rivne, where he had arrived to serve in the reserve battalion of the OC "West". He has not yet been notified of suspicion.
"Halushkin and Horbenko will be suspected of negligence in connection with the failure of defence and the loss of control of the troops in the Kharkiv sector on 10 May 2024," the journalist added.
Read more about the situation in the 155th Brigade in the article "The Case of Anna of Kyiv: Lessons from the newly formed brigades".
Situation in the 155th Brigade
As a reminder, on 1 January 2025, Censor.NET editor-in-chief Yurii Butusov outlined a number of facts about the circumstances of the formation and functioning of the 155th mechanised brigade "Anna of Kyiv", which entered the battle near Pokrovsk and suffered significant losses there.
According to him, the 155th Brigade faced a number of problems: 1,700 soldiers left the brigade without permission before the first battle, the brigade commander was fired immediately after the battle, and one of the brigade's leaders died of a heart attack.
Butusov conducted a lengthy investigation to find out what exactly led to the significant losses among the brigade's personnel and equipment and the massive AWOL.
In October, the 155th Brigade left for training in France. 1924 servicemen were sent there, of whom only 51 had more than a year of military service, 459 had up to a year of experience, and the majority, 1414, had just enlisted and served for less than 2 months, about 150 were sent to France even without undergoing the BGMT. About 50 military from brigade fled to France.
The editor-in-chief of Censor.NET also reports that the brigade has not been provided with the necessary weapons. In particular, the brigade did not receive any drones from the state to perform combat missions. Also, according to Butusov, there were no electronic warfare equipment. The brigade was supplied by volunteers.
In addition, all the 120 mm mortar shells produced by the Ministry of Strategic Industries that were issued to the brigade were defective.
On 2 January, it became known that the State Bureau of Investigation had launched an investigation into mass AWOL in the 155th "Anna of Kyiv" Brigade following media reports. In turn, the French Ministry of Defence did not comment on the information that the 155th Anna of Kyiv Brigade, trained by the French armed forces, was the subject of an investigation in Ukraine.
Also in early January, the results of a meeting of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Staff regarding the 155th Brigade "Anna of Kyiv" were announced.
On 5 January, Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi promised to increase the capabilities of the 155th Brigade and acknowledged that there were problems that needed to be addressed.
Censor.NET editor-in-chief Yurii Butusov said that the formation of new brigades without their support is a gross mistake that is costly for the country.