Macron’s brigade shows how not to fight in Ukraine

It was supposed to be the showpiece of Nato’s support for the war in Ukraine – the first of 14 almost entirely Western-trained and equipped brigades that would push back the advancing Russian army.

In reality, the 155th Separate Mechanised Brigade was, in the words of one Ukrainian war correspondent, “from its first days, complete organisational chaos”.

Announced during D-Day commemorations in Normandy last June by Emmanuel Macron, the brigade was given the finest French military instructors and weaponry at a cost of more than €900 million.

But before the 155th ever fired a shot in anger, it was dogged with scandals and claims of rampant mismanagement. At least 1,700 troops had gone AWOL, including dozens in France, its commander had been fired, and it was fast becoming a major headache for both Volodymyr Zelensky and Macron.

Now, the 155th – also known as the “Anne of Kyiv” brigade after the 11th century Kyiv princess who became a French queen – has disintegrated, with its few combat-ready troops sent to reinforce other units.

The shambolic formation of the 155th was enough for Mr Zelensky to pull the plug on any future Western-sponsored brigades.

According to John Foreman, former UK defence attaché to Moscow and Kyiv, what began with “noble” intentions quickly became a “failed experiment, borne out of a flawed concept”.

During the beginnings of its formation, many argued that Ukraine was wasting time and precious manpower creating new brigades, rather than reinforcing existing ones that were exhausted and in desperate need of fresh troops.

Mr Foreman said the woes of the 155th are emblematic of the greater difficulties that Ukraine’s military is facing. He pointed to mistakes in its mobilisation process – that it is failing to recruit enough men or stop them deserting – as well as an unresponsive high command and increasing frustration among Western partners.

What happened to the 155th “is indeed a crime, but it is not a crime of soldiers and officers,” said Yuriy Butusov, a prominent Ukrainian journalist and founder of news website Censor.net who first began chronicling the brigade’s problems in November.

He noted that all seven new brigades that Ukraine raised in 2024 suffered similar fates when first deployed, blaming Kyiv’s political and military leadership for what he deemed a “poorly organised political project”.

‘In France, I was taught absolutely nothing’

In July and August, more than 2,500 of the 155th’s best-trained soldiers were taken to replenish other brigades, according to Butusov’s investigation, while reports that fresh recruits had deserted began to circulate.

At the start of October, what was left – roughly 1,900 soldiers – were sent for training in France. “I made a commitment,” wrote Macron alongside footage of Ukrainian troops in shiny new uniforms, training in the sunshine. “The Anne of Kyiv brigade will be trained and equipped thanks to French solidarity,” he added on X.

According to records, only 51 of the soldiers had more than a year of military service experience, 459 had less than a year, and the majority (1,414) had served for less than 2 months. At least 150 were sent without having passed basic training.

Once in France, instructors faced the near-impossible task of training an entire brigade almost from scratch. One current officer from the 155th told Radio Free Liberty: “In France, I was taught absolutely nothing.”

France’s ministry of defence confirmed that a total of 55 soldiers deserted, which it told The Telegraph was “within the norm” for cases of desertion during the training of foreign soldiers.

The 155th’s return to Ukraine was disorderly: some officers stayed behind for extra training, trained specialists were syphoned off into other brigades, troops reassigned to positions they had not trained for, its command structure was reorganised and it was stripped of some of its new heavy weaponry.

The result was that soldiers ran en masse.

The disjointed, only partially-trained brigade was then thrust into one of the most brutal stretches of the 700-mile front in late December around Pokrovsk, a fortress city in the Donbas under threat of being encircled by Russian forces.

France had come through on its promises, delivering Caesar howitzers, armoured vehicles and anti-tank missiles. But crucially, Ukraine failed to provide either drones or electronic warfare systems – both essential to basic survival in the war.

On first contact with actual combat conditions, it crumbled. Some of the most inexperienced subunits were sent out first, and they suffered heavy losses, including reports that prized Leopard 2 tanks were wasted in disorderly assaults.

Within days, the 155th’s recently-replaced and highly regarded commander, Col Dmytro Ryumshin, was sacked.

Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations then opened a criminal investigation into the chaotic formation of the brigade, which Zelensky personally took over in January in an apparent attempt to calm the anger of the French.

In January, General Mykhailo Drapatyi, commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, acknowledged “inadequate management”, “mistakes in recruitment”, and “imperfect training planning”. He stressed that France had “fully fulfilled its obligations to Ukraine”.

On Jan 20, Col Ryumshin of the 155th was arrested and charged with wartime negligence, including allegations he failed to report mass desertion. His lawyer called the case “politically motivated” after his bail was set at $2.1 million. He faces up to 10 years in prison.

Sergey Filimonov, commander of Ukraine’s 108th Battalion, said he knew “of 10 such brigades” that suffered similar problems to the 155th.

He wrote in the Kyiv Independent that: “Nato’s training methods often fail to align with the realities of modern warfare” in Ukraine.

Filimonov added the case of the 155th shows that: “Foreign training, unless adapted to Ukrainian conditions and integrated within [existing] unit practices, is not only ineffective but dangerous.”

‘Clear warning to the UK and other Nato allies’

Other Ukrainian commanders have consistently complained that switching Ukrainian tactics from the Soviet-style doctrine its officer corps grew up on to Nato-style thinking cannot be done in a few months.

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former British Army tank commander, called the story of 155th a “clear warning to the UK and other Nato allies”.

He argued the solutions should be that all military training carried out by Kyiv’s allies – including the UK – should be moved back to Ukraine and that the creation of entirely new brigades should be stopped.

Lt Col Bohdan Krotevych, chief of staff of the Ukrainian national guard’s Azov Brigade, put it more bluntly. “Can it be idiocy to create new brigades and equip them with such equipment, having incomplete existing ones?” he asked.

The 157th, also created in 2024, was recently hastily deployed to Pokrovsk, despite reports it was not yet combat ready and is taking on heavy casualties – echoing the problems that beleaguered the 155th.

Ukraine’s military command now appears to be listening. At the end of last month, Zelensky reportedly ordered an end to the creation of new combat brigades.

Mike Kofman, a military analyst, told The Telegraph: “The scandal with the 155th was simply the most egregious case amongst the problems associated with the new brigades, which many in Ukraine believe should not have been formed in the first place.”

The rest of the new, but incomplete brigades, are likely to be disbanded or “used as piecemeal, with individual battalions parcelled out to other experienced units on the front,” Mr Kofman said.

This is the fate that has befallen the 155th.

It is not operating as a brigade, but largely being used as reinforcements for other combat-capable units. Several of its battalions are reported to be fighting well, but officers in the 155th say they are still training recruits while on the job.

After a long spell of silence over the fate of the brigade, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraine’s military chief, coyly announced days ago that the 155th is “gradually acquiring certain combat capabilities”.

Referring to certain “negative aspects and difficulties” the brigade had faced, he said that “conclusions have been drawn that will be taken into account”.

The 155th paid a heavy cost for those conclusions, Mr Foreman said. “It was destined to fail. They were lambs sent to the slaughter.”

France’s ministry of defence called the “Anne of Kyiv” brigade “a unique project, co-constructed with the Ukrainians, whose effectiveness has been lauded and has never been called into question by our Ukrainian partners”.

It added that Ukraine retains the sovereign right to choose how to deploy their forces.

Ukraine’s ministry of defence has also been asked for comment.