One of the best commanders of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is removed from his position for an interview with the Washington Post, where he emphasizes the need to improve the training of mobilized soldiers.
The commander of the combat battalion of the 46th separate air mobile brigade of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Anatoliy Kozl “Kupol”, was transferred to the lower position of deputy commander of the training center because of his interview with the Washington Post, in which he criticized the level of training of the mobilized Ukrainian soldiers. In response, Kupol wrote a report for his dismissal.
The commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 46th Airborne Assault with the call sign “Kupol,” gives an interview to the Washington Post. He has been fighting since 2014 and has performed brilliantly since the russian invasion.
The censor.net editor in Chief Yuriy Butusov admitted that “Kupol” was the only career soldier in the battalion, which was composed entirely of reservists. Out of the 500 soldiers in the first unit, 100 were killed and almost 400 wounded. The Kupol battalion has the highest level of motivation, high trust in the commander, and good management.
During the fighting in Soledar, they had many frostbite victims and had to have their toes amputated because they held their positions until the last possible moment, without changes or even supplies, because the conditions were so difficult, and one of the paratroopers from this battalion lost 10 toes from frostbite.
They retreated under orders when the enemy actually surrounded Soledar. Therefore, it is impossible to say that Kupol is looking for treason or that this is a person trying to evade responsibility – this officer takes responsibility.
“Kupol” gave an interview to one of the most influential US publications, the Washington Post, and here are his quotes from the text about the organization and preparation of the Ukrainian army for the upcoming offensive:
“We just give interviews and tell people that we are doing everything we can. It’s like all we do is give interviews and tell people that we have already won, a little more, two weeks, and we will win.
I get 100 new soldiers. They don’t give me time to prepare them. They say: “Take them into battle”. And these soldiers just drop everything and run. And that’s it. Do you understand why? Because the soldier does not shoot. I asked him why, and he said: “I’m afraid of the sound of a gunshot”. And for some reason, he has never thrown a grenade. … We need NATO instructors in all our training centers, and our instructors need to be sent to the trenches. Because they have failed in their task.
The most valuable thing in war is combat experience. A soldier who has survived six months of fighting and a soldier who has come from a training ground are two different soldiers. It’s heaven and earth. And there are very few soldiers who have combat experience. Unfortunately, many have already been killed or wounded.
There is always faith in a miracle. Either it will be a bloody meat grinder and corpses, or it will be a professional counteroffensive. There are two options. In any case, there will be a counteroffensive.”
All of this is true. And all this is discussed in the army. This realism is necessary for the formation of an objective picture in Ukrainian and American society. We need to realize the lack of efforts to train and organize our troops.
Unfortunately, the reaction to these important words of a successful commander has been unpleasant. “Kupol is going to be removed from his post.
Why? Because the commander cares about the lives of the soldiers and demands changes in training to conduct a successful counteroffensive, because without changes in training, no words will break through the front? This is the only possible way to win.
If he is dismissed, it will mean that the current army will lose a quality commander, the combat capability of the battalion and the brigade as a whole will be significantly reduced, the well-coordinated team will be undermined, and instead of honest analysis and real changes, analysis of mistakes, the Russian army will win, where any fair comments are denied and those who make them are oppressed, thus making it impossible to make the necessary changes.
I hope that the leadership will consider the situation, and Kupol will be retained in his position, awarded with the awards he deserves for his combat service, and his words will be fairly evaluated. We have to defeat Russia both on the frontline and in our minds – and instead of shutting our mouths, we need to start thinking and acting to improve ourselves every day.
We really hope that, after all, this story will cause a public outcry, which will force the higher military-political leadership to restore justice and reconsider its attitude towards Ukrainian military.
We are not cattle! We are not in russia! We will not be silent!
To be continue.
Tags: commander Kupol russia ukraine war ukraine front lines Washington post
If he’s that good as a commander then the ukraine army high command is fool not to hear public’s and soldier’s comments ,re-investigate and reconsider it;s decision to demote this officer.
He should be reinstated all medals.He was saying this to a respected US paper.President Zelensky rethink this please.
it’s nothing strange… he was chased away by irresponsible and incompetent, probably corrupt bastards who recognized themselves in his words and criticism… he was lucky they didn’t kill him, although it’s never too late for that if he continues to present the truth and criticize responsible… this happens in all backward and corrupt societies and states (read: sh*tholes), even during the war…
I am from Bosnia and Herzegovina (where, btw, Ukrainians were coming as volunteers and mercenaries on the aggressor side of Serbian war criminals and voluntarily and for a handful of blood money participated in the aggression against my homeland and in the genocide of my people… in other words, they were the same as the Wagner’s today in Ukraine), so I know everything about that kind of “patriots” and their behavior, “politics” and methods… for their personal interests, gains and fear of losing power, those (traitors) in power, replaced and even killed our greatest patriots, commanders, bravest and most capable people, because they perceived them as a threat to their position and intentions… and their criminal activities resulted in such a paradox that in the summer of 1993 the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina became the first, the only and probably last army in history in which a captured officer of occupying forces became the commander of the General Staff and the first man of the ARBiH!!!… yes, you understood correctly – an officer who was CAPTURED in the begging of the war as a member of of the AGGRESOR army became the commander of our Bosnian Army! (check the name of General Rasim Delić, if you don’t believe me).