Ukrainian ground forces commander Mykhailo Drapati admitted today that there are “problems” in the “Anna of Kiev” brigade, which was partly trained and equipped by France, following revelations in the press about cases of abuse of power and desertion.

“I can certainly confirm that there were problems with the administration and the training process“, he admitted before several media outlets, including AFP, but “perhaps not on the scale presented”.

“As far as possible, all these problems are in the process of being solved,” he continued, assuring that the number of desertions of soldiers trained in France is “minimal”.

The “Anna of Kiev” brigade has been the subject of controversy since its return last month from France, where 2,300 of its 4,500 soldiers were trained.

According to Ukrainian journalist Yury Butusov, nearly 1,700 soldiers of the brigade deserted, most of them before their unit was even deployed to the front, and 50 during training in France.

He described “a complete organizational mess” in the brigade’s initial training and accused the Ukrainian general staff of sending some of those soldiers to other units to “fill holes,” that is, in their staffing.

An investigation is already underway into cases of abuse of power and desertion in the ranks of this brigade, AFP learned on January 2.

“There were some problems and they still exist, no one hides them,” Major General Michael Drapati told reporters today.

“We are taking certain measures, mainly in terms of training and coordination, so that this military unit is really ready to fulfill its missions,” he added.

He also acknowledged, in a rare admission by the Ukrainian general staff, that the problems faced by the “Anna of Kiev” brigade were “systemic for other brigades”: “This is not a secret.”

To solve them, “a coherent approach is also needed,” he stressed, at a time when Ukrainian forces face Russian troops on the battlefield, which are more numerous and better equipped.

In addition, Mihailos Drapati said his army was “constantly inflicting casualties” on Moscow’s forces in Russia’s Kursk region, where it has controlled hundreds of square kilometers of territory since August 2024.

Russian forces said on Sunday that Ukrainian troops had launched a new offensive in this border region on Russian territory.

However, the Ukrainian lieutenant general gave no further details and refused to comment on the situation in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kurakhove, which the Russian army said today it had captured after three months of fighting. “It is not my domain,” he said.