He went AWOL and incited fighters to do so: Commander with 155th Brigade detained in Rivne region - SBI. PHOTO
Law enforcement officers detained and notified the commander of one of the companies of the 155th Separate Mechanized Brigade "Anna of Kyiv" of suspicion, who not only went AWOL but also incited his subordinate soldiers to do so.
This was reported by the press service of the State Bureau of Investigation, Censor.NET reports.
It was established that a senior lieutenant commanding one of the companies in the 155th Brigade failed to fulfill an order to transfer the company to the operational subordination of another unit at the end of last year. Instead, he ordered his soldiers to desert unarmed and go AWOL.
The company commander was detained today, January 8, in the Rivne region.
It is noted that he was taken to Kyiv. Here, he was informed of suspicion of unauthorisedly leaving his place of service and refusing to comply with an order (part 4 of Article 402, part 5 of Article 407 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The sanction of the articles provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
The court imposed on the suspect a pre-trial restraint in the form of detention with an alternative of bail.
The situation in the 155th Brigade
As a reminder, on January 1, 2025, Censor.NET editor-in-chief Yurii Butusov outlined a number of facts about the circumstances of the formation and functioning of the 155th mechanized brigade "Anne of Kyiv", which entered the battle near Pokrovsk and suffered significant losses there.
According to him, the 155th Brigade faced a number of problems: before the first battle, 1700 soldiers left it without permission, 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 soldiers were sent there, of whom only 51 had more than a year of military service experience, 459 had up to a year of experience, and the majority, 1414, were just enlisted and served for less than 2 months, about 150 people were sent to France even without undergoing the BGMT (basic general military training). About 50 military brigades fled to France.
The editor-in-chief of Censor.NET also reports that the brigade was not 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 faulty.
On January 2, it became known that the State Bureau of Investigation had launched an investigation into the massive unauthorized leaving of a unit in the 155th Anne of Kyiv Brigade after relevant media reports appeared. In turn, the French Ministry of Defense did not comment on the information that the 155th Anne of Kyiv Brigade, trained by the French armed forces, was the subject of an investigation in Ukraine.
Also in early January, it became known about the results of a meeting of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Staff regarding the 155th Brigade "Anne of Kyiv".
On January 5, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, promised to increase the capabilities of the 155th Brigade and admitted that there were problems that needed to be solved.
Yurii Butusov, editor-in-chief of Censor.NET, said that the formation of new brigades without providing them with supplies is a gross mistake that cost the country dearly.
