War in Ukraine: Ukrainian officer demoted after complaining about lack of trained troops

The year 2023 will be "

", promised on January 1 Volodymyr Zelensky.

In the process, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence assured that Crimea would be liberated before the summer.

Wartime communication is an indispensable art that Ukraine has mastered to perfection since the early days of the Russian invasion.

To discover

• Follow information on the war in Ukraine with the Figaro application

A major issue in the conflict, information is firmly locked down by the government.

kyiv alternates between galvanizing patriotic declarations and alerts on the difficulties encountered on the front to sensitize its allies, as when the Ukrainian president worried about a "complicated situation" in Bakhmout.

And the government intends to remain in control of this communication.

A Ukrainian officer was thus demoted after complaining about the lack of ammunition and trained troops in the

columns .

Lieutenant-Colonel Anatoliy Kozel of the 46th Airborne Assault Brigade had notably underlined in the American newspaper the difficulty of fighting with troops of non-professional soldiers, who have never known fire.

Lack of training

“

,” lamented the soldier, explaining that the new recruits were afraid of the sound of gunfire and had never thrown a grenade.

"

," the officer also pleaded.

Read also Complaints from Russian soldiers in Ukraine: “The Kremlin is attentive because it knows the unpopular mobilization”

According to him, the Ukrainian losses would be very high, hence the difficulty in renewing the troops with experienced fighters.

Of the 500 soldiers in his brigade, 100 would have been killed in action, and the other 400 would be wounded, he argued, leading to a complete turnover with new and poorly trained troops.

If kyiv chooses not to communicate the number of victims of its camp, Western sources estimate the Ukrainian losses at more than 100,000 killed and wounded.

The officer of the airborne brigade, engaged in particular in the battle of Soledar ended in a Ukrainian defeat, also reports in the article serious shortages of ammunition, in particular of mortar shells or grenades for the American Mk19 grenade launchers.

A year after the Russian invasion, in a conflict where everyone is betting on the wear and tear of the opposing camp in a deadly war of attrition, this warning echoes the videos of Russian mobilized soldiers broadcast on social networks where the soldiers directly challenge Vladimir Putin to report their distress at the front, as well as the lack of weapons and ammunition.

Demotion and resignation

In response, the army decided to demote the serviceman, citing "

" military losses

, detailed an army spokesperson whose remarks are reported by the online media

.

The sanctioned officer also and above all violated the duty of reserve "

", the spokesperson specified.

The latter added that a soldier had to obtain authorization from his command for any communication with the media.

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According to the same newspaper, the officer in question was transferred from his post of command of the 46th brigade to a post of deputy at the army training center, and in the process asked for a dismissal from the following this assignment.

The soldier would not be the only one to have suffered the dissatisfaction of the hierarchy.

Sergeant Oleksandr Pogrebyskyi from the same brigade was also reportedly transferred as the unit's chief instructor in the training center.

These demotions sparked reactions in Ukraine, particularly within the battalion.

"

," said a soldier from the 46th brigade in a column published in

"

", proclaims Volodymyr Shevchenko, who has made no secret of his identity, regretting that "

' to be removed from his post.

"

", also regretted in a post on Facebook the journalist and boss of the online media

.

"

," he concluded.