For a month, Ukraine has been shaken by the scandals surrounding the Anne brigade in kyiv. This military formation, partially trained in France, is accused of having been the victim of “complete organizational chaos”. Contacted, the French Ministry of the Armed Forces confirms having trained the brigade “in the Champagne camps from October to December 2024”, a specificity of France, the only one to “have formed a brigade thus composed”.
In total, 2,000 men were “trained in combined arms combat”. In a press kit on the training of the Ukrainian armed forces, the Ministry of the Armed Forces assures that “the French offer is integrated. It aims to be able to be exploited directly on the battlefield and to create a decisive advantage. It also aims to produce lasting effects.” Unfortunately, upon its return to Ukraine, the kyiv Anne Brigade was allegedly the victim of mismanagement.
“Plug the holes”
The Ukrainian general staff is notably accused of having dispersed these fighters to “plug the holes” in the Ukrainian army. “Overall, the different companies formed were distributed to various front lines,” soberly confirms the French Ministry of the Armed Forces. Another major problem is that of the 4,500 soldiers who make it up (half of whom went through France to train), 1,700 soldiers are said to have deserted. Most of them would have abandoned their post even before being deployed to the front.
Around fifty during their training, in France. On Wednesday, the Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu mentioned the figure of “55 desertions” in France on Europe 1. Many members of this brigade named after a princess of kyiv who became queen of the Franks by marrying Henry I in the 11th century were reportedly sent to Pokrovsk, in eastern Ukraine. This is the nerve center of the conflict, where Russia claims to obtain regular territorial victories. The members of the Anne of kyiv brigade were, however, conscripts, beginners, who had only just been trained.
Communication and arrest
The French Ministry of the Armed Forces refused to comment on the management of the brigade upon its return to Ukrainian lands. However, faced with the scale of the criticism, Mykhailo Drapatyi, the Ukrainian army commander, went close to the front. In an interview with several media including RFI, he believes that “the word ‘chaos’ is not admissible in Ukraine and even less so in the army.”
“There were problems in terms of personnel, training and partly the composition of the team,” he admits while assuring that “the brigade (Anne of kyiv) is fighting and inflicting losses on the enemy “. Proof of the commotion caused by these accusations, one of the brigade’s unit commanders was arrested this Wednesday. According to the Ukrainian Bureau of Investigation (SBI), this man had “not only left the service but also incited his men to do so”. However, it is difficult to verify whether, as Mykhailo Drapatyi asserts, these problems are indeed “being resolved”.
