“They did not cope with their duties”: the new brigade commander of the 125th brigade sent part of the officers to the infantry

COLLAGE: ANDRIJ KALISTRATENKO

The new commander of the 125th heavy mechanized brigade of the Third Army Corps, Volodymyr Fokin (“Foka”), sent part of the officers to the “officer patrol” in the Kupyan direction.

Sources: Foka’s statement on the page of the 125th brigade

Direct speech: “As the new commander of the 125th brigade, I could not stand aside from the events that befell our unit in the past (this is about the loss of management and military personnel in the direction of Gulyaipol – UP). Therefore, I decided to tell you what work was done, so as not to make the same mistakes in the future. After my appointment, one of my first tasks was to assess the competence of our unit’s officers.

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I organized an officer’s meeting, conducted an initial cut of knowledge to understand who is ready to responsibly perform their duties and develop, and who needs more attention and control. During the month, the officers had the opportunity to demonstrate their professional level. I gave them practical tasks, monitored their discipline, initiative and willingness to work on themselves. At the end, we conducted an evaluation to see the real dynamics. The results were different. Some of the officers showed a high level of training, but there were also those who treated the service carelessly – did not seek to improve, did not perform their duties properly.

In view of this, I decided to form officer patrols and send them to the area of ​​responsibility of the settlement of Kup’yansk. There was a need for reinforcement“.

Details: according to the UP, the decision to send them to the Kupyan direction affected servicemen from the command of the brigade and battalions with high ranks. In fact, in the direction of Kupyansk, they fell into the infantry.

Why it matters: the decision to transfer officers to the infantry for “careless attitude to work” is quite atypical for the Ukrainian army. More common is the practice, no matter how strange it sounds, but promotion to the next position on the career ladder. In fact, this is one of the few examples of officer punishment that has gone public.

At the same time, interlocutors of the UP, who are concerned with the protection of the rights of Ukrainian servicemen, say off the record that they were a bit puzzled by such a decision of the 125th Brigade’s Brigadier General. Because the sending of officers to the infantry can entail the violation of the rights of servicemen and the leveling of the army hierarchy, which helps to maintain discipline in the military collective.

The methods of work of the Third Army Corps, which is now “rewiring” the corps brigades – 66, 63, 53, 125, are not well received by everyone.

Prehistory: part of the 125th brigade fought in the direction of Gulyaipol, where a major breakthrough of the Russian army took place in the autumn of this year. According to the information of the Chief of Staff of the Defense Forces, the command of units in the brigade was lost – that is, they did not have contact with the command and could not fulfill the assigned tasks, which led to both the loss of Ukrainian positions and the loss of servicemen of the 125th brigade.

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