Syrskyi promises to strengthen the 155th brigade with drones and “pay attention to problematic issues”

According to the results of the meeting with the commanders of the unmanned systems units, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said that “he paid special attention to building the capabilities of the unmanned systems unit of the 155th mechanized brigade, as well as to problematic issues that need to be solved.” This was stated in his telegram post on January 5.

Syrskyi did not specify which problematic issues are being discussed.

On the night of January 5, journalist Yuriy Butusov wrote that, according to Censor.NET sources, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi heard information about the situation in the 155th mechanized brigade at the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, and said that he was taking the investigation under his personal control.

Butusov noted that the president was most interested in “the circumstances of the desertion in France of several dozen servicemen of the brigade and the voluntary abandonment of part of 1,700 servicemen during the formation of the brigade in Ukraine.”

“At this time, the 155th mechanized brigade continues to heroically defend Pokrovsk, despite great difficulties. For some reason, the brigade took away its main striking force – a division of the latest 155-mm “Caesar” guns, and gave it to another brigade,” Butusov emphasized in the same post.

At the same time, President of Ukraine Zelenskyi reported in the evening briefing on January 4 that he had listened to Sirskyi’s report on the situation at the front, but did not mention the meeting of the Headquarters and did not comment on the events surrounding the 155th brigade.

Read also: The French Ministry of Defense does not comment on the situation surrounding the Ukrainian 155th brigade, trained by the French

In the first days of 2025, Yuriy Butusov wrote about the problems of formation, training of personnel, support and functioning of the newly created 155th OMBr named after Anna of Kyiv. According to him, even before the first battle, the unit arbitrarily left more than a thousand mobilized, the commander of the brigade was dismissed, and one of the leaders responsible for the formation of the brigade died of a heart attack.

Despite this, after training in France, the brigade was transferred to Pokrovsk.

Also, according to Butusov, the unit did not receive a single drone from the state, but exclusively from volunteers.

State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) is investigating the facts presented in the media regarding the 155th mechanized brigade “Anna Kyivska”, the proceedings are being investigated under the articles of abuse of authority and desertion, DBR communications adviser Tetyana Sapyan told RFE/RL.

The creation of the 155th brigade “Anna of Kyiv” was part of the project to form new brigades, for which Ukraine had to find people, and international partners – weapons. France participated in the preparation and arming of the brigade.