Ukraine and France play down desertions as Kyiv probe continues

Ukraine's land forces commander admitted there were "problems" with an army unit partly trained in France as Kyiv continues to investigate reports that many of its soldiers had deserted.

The 155th Mechanized Brigade, nicknamed 'Anne of Kyiv', was one of several military groupings formed last year as Ukraine sought to boost preparations for possible new Russian offensives.

The unit is made up of 4,500 soldiers, with France training around half of them and providing equipment.

"There are problems and there have been problems with staffing, training, and partly with the command staff," said Land Forces Commander Mykhailo Drapaty. 

"Negative things have come out in the public domain. All of this has been recognized, analyzed and certain conclusions drawn."

Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation last week opened a probe into desertion in the unit and "abuse of power."

A French army official confirmed on Monday several dozen Ukrainian soldiers had deserted while training in France.

"There have been a certain number of desertions, but they remain very marginal given the volume of people who have undergone training,”the official said. "They were in French barracks, they had the right to go out."

They added that Ukrainian soldiers trained in France were subject to a disciplinary regime "imposed by the Ukrainian command."

"We don't criminalize desertion in France," the official added. "If someone deserted, a French prosecutor had no authority to arrest that individual. And the right granted to the Ukrainian authorities on French soil is just a disciplinary right."

The French army trained on French territory 2,300 soldiers from the 'Anne of Kyiv' brigade, named after the Kyiv-born princess who married the French 11th century King Henri I. The other 2,200 soldiers in the brigade were trained in Ukraine.

AWOLs and fear

French President Emmanuel Macron joined the brigade in October at a military camp in eastern France.

Prominent Ukrainian journalist Yuriy Butusov wrote in December that 1,700 soldiers had fled the brigade without going into combat, and that 50 had escaped while training in France.

Asked about Butusov's report, Drapaty said: "I will not refute it." He said "a number of the facts presented by Butusov did take place", while "perhaps not on the scale and scope that was presented".

There were "AWOLs" in the unit, he admitted, citing the personnel's "fear" and saying "some of them lack practical experience in combat operations."

Ukrainian lawmaker Mariana Bezugla said last month the brigade had been effectively closed down and redistributed across other units, blaming a lack of "coordination of command structures."

"Even the French efforts to make the brigade specialized couldn't save it from the poor military decisions of our generals, which ultimately dismantled the unit," she said.

Drapaty described the unit's creation as "a negative lesson, a negative experience." But he added: "Believe me, we are making every effort to make the brigade effective."

He insisted the unit would prove its training by France was "not in vain" and said he was certain it wouldn't be the last brigade to be created jointly by Ukraine and France.