Insubordination on the rise in the AFU
How long can the Armed Forces of Ukraine continue like this?
I have not dealt with the Russo-Ukrainian war for quite a while, but the news coming from the front in the last few days are so juicy that I could not neglect them. Plus, I believe they are more interesting than the theatre of the negotiations between Russia, on one side, and Ukraine and the Outlaw US Empire, on the other. So, here we go, with my English translation of 3 short posts from the Telegram channel of Italian journalist Vittorio Rangeloni.
The first one was published just an hour ago, at the time of publishing this article, i.e. at 20.03 CEST. It’s (almost) breaking news: as per the title of this article (my choice, not Rangeloni’s - all emphasis mine)…
Insubordination on the rise in the AFU
In Ukraine, yesterday's scandal over the resignation of the commander of the 47th brigade, who was tired of receiving “idiotic orders” [translation of the post in the link further down] on the border with the Kursk region, has not yet been digested, and a new case of “rebellion” among senior officers has surfaced.
This time, however, it is Syrsky, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces himself, who has urgently decided to remove Lieutenant-Colonel Bogdan Shevchuk, who is engaged with his men on the difficult Pokrovsk front, from his post as commander of the 59th assault brigade.
According to Shevchuk, his soldiers were in danger of being encircled by the Russians and, as a result, he “guiltily” decided on his own to order them to retreat from their positions and abandon a residential area. “The commander-in-chief and the president did not like this and decided to remove me from office”, said the former 59th brigade commander.
The second post was published yesterday, Sunday 18th May 2025, and it is the one referred in the link in the post above. (All emphasis mine).
Kiev's military leadership does not abandon the idea of fighting on Russian territory, but officers on the ground rebel: “idiotic orders”
After the army of the Russian Federation regained control of the borders of the Kursk region with Ukraine, the Kiev commands almost immediately attempted to return to fighting on Russian territory. At first, there were attempts to penetrate the Belgorod region, aimed at gaining control of the villages Demikovka and Popovka, after which the Ukrainian efforts concentrated again in the Kursk region, targeting Tyotkino. Despite the large number of men and means sacrificed, these raids failed. But the attempts continue.
In both directions, the Ukrainian commands have focused on the 47th mechanised brigade “Magura”, formed at the end of 2022 according to NATO standards, equipped with Western means (Bradley, Leopard 2AS and Abrams) and trained in Germany. This formation - considered elite - was forged to participate in the counter-offensive of 2023, which was supposed to take Zelensky's army to the Crimean border, but already after a few kilometres it crashed into the wall of the “Surovikin” line in the Zaporozhye region.
In Kursk, too, the situation was no better. Yesterday [Saturday 17th May 2025], the commander of the 1st battalion of the 47th Brigade, Alexander Shirshin, lashed out at the leadership of his army and resigned. Here are his words:
I have never received more idiotic tasks than those assigned in the current operations. One day I will tell the details, but the loss of people in a stupid way, the shuddering at the stupidity of commanders, can only lead to failures. All they are capable of is reprimands, investigations, disciplinary actions. To hell with them all.
The “political” games and the assessment of the real state of affairs correspond neither to reality nor to possibilities. They have gone too far.
My report has been submitted, I will soon be removed from office and I will be ready to tell my journalist friends something.
Ukrainian journalist (propagandist close to the defence leadership) Butusov also defended the commander, admitting that the country's top leadership thinks more about the political profit of operations than the lives of soldiers:
Attempts to attack head-on with columns of vehicles under Russian supervision and drone attacks lead to significant losses of vehicles and people. The political task of conducting combat operations on enemy territory, set by the Supreme Commander's Headquarters, is poorly organised and planned at the operational and tactical level, and no one tries to draw conclusions and learn, but, on the contrary, the same mistakes are repeated many times, without considering the losses.
The third and final post was published yesterday, Sunday 18th May 2025, and it is the one referred in the link in the post above. (All emphasis mine).
Dnipropetrovsk - Ukrainian corruption allied with the Russian army
The front line is leaving the mines of the Donbass behind, moving further and further west, close to the Dnipropetrovsk region. It is now only a handful of kilometres to the gates of this new oblast.
The Russian army, which has learnt to identify and press ever more effectively on the weak points of the Ukrainian defences, can also hope to count on a valuable ally in the Dnepropetrovsk region: the corruption of oblast officials.
The conflict has given the Ukrainian regional authorities even more power in the management of emergency situations, more money and consequently also enormous opportunities to speculate and enrich themselves.
The easiest way of laundering public money when the conflict is on the doorstep is surely through the allocation of funds for the construction of fortifications, an area in which the head of the regional military administration is competent: Sergei Lysak, former head of the region's Security Services (and a family friend of the SBU Malyuk's head), appointed on 7th February 2023 to replace Valentin Reznichenko following allegations of corruption and misappropriation of public funds.
Under Lysak, the volumes of corruption have even increased. According to the Financial Times, in 2024 the Dnipropetrovsk region spent more than seven million [US] Dollars on the construction of defensive fortifications, which journalists sent to the region did not find. This complaint triggered checks, mobilising a special commission sent by Kiev. Andrei Bogdanets, one of the members of the commission, admitted that “the theft of money for the construction of fortifications almost always goes unpunished”.
In addition to trenches, anti-tank ditches and casemates, another shameless ploy to make public money disappear are investments in bunkers in schools. The Dnipropetrovsk region between 24 February 2022 and 19 November 2024 was awarded around 10 per cent of the funds (worth around € 65 million) allocated by the country to build bomb shelters.
In Krivoj Rog, in Zelensky's hometown, Gymnasium No. 89, High School No.123 (where the director of the contracting company is under investigation for embezzlement of money) and Gymnasium No. 84 are still waiting for the delivery of the anti-radiation bunkers. The work is still on the high seas, despite being scheduled for completion by the end of 2024. And they will probably never be completed, despite the millions of Euro already allocated.
Another tool for the appropriation of public funds is the so-called “TerOborona” (Territorial Defence Brigades). The “godfather” of this structure in Dnipro is Boris Filatov, a man of the oligarch Kolomoiskij and Lysak's deputy. A few weeks ago, Mikola Lukashuk, head of the Dnipropetrovsk Region Regional Council (where quite a few councillors have not appeared in court for months, preferring to smart-work from their residences in Europe), announced the allocation of more than 400 million gryvne for the defence of the region, most of which has been paid to Filatov's 128th brigade, which is supposed to be in charge of creating new fortifications. The remaining funds were earmarked for the resurfacing of roads in Novopavlovka, a settlement located only a few kilometres from the front line. These roads had not been considered for decades, but just now the need to invest money was perceived... perhaps because there is a greater chance that the Russians will get there before the members of the Anti-Corruption Commission.
Something tells me that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are about to collapse. How long can they go on with all this insubordination and corruption?
Please feel free to leave your guess in a comment.
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Exceptional reportage. Thank you for covering this.
IMO, the political ineptness shown by Ukraine is the primary reason why it's losing the attrition war--its decisions have played directly into Russia's strategy again and again. Then there's the utter lack of support from the rear that's exactly the opposite from Russia, although it's had its share of corrupt border officials as with the Kursk Governor along with corruption uncovered in the military's logistical system. The vast difference is competent governance in Moscow versus that in Kiev, where no merit is allowed because cronyism rules the roost.
Hopefully an honest history of Ukraine from 1945 to the present will be written that will expose the culture of corruption that's existed here almost that entire time. Essentially, Ukraine was rebuilt after the war and then allowed to go to seed except for a few strategically important cities and their industries. And since 1991, that process gathered great momentum and became even worse after the 2014 Maidan.