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| Forbes: Two of the six tank brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine exist only on paper |
| 2022-08-09 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [TopWar] The Ukrainian army is actually not as strong as they say in Kyiv, the number of personnel and equipment does not match the official data provided by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. For example, a third of the tank brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine exists only on paper. About it writes the American edition of Forbes. The Kyiv regime, headed by Zelensky, relied on Western assistance, and in order to show the United States and Europe that the Ukrainian army is stronger than the Russian one and only needs to be invested in, Kyiv came up with the idea of ​​making "virtual" units that exist only on paper. According to the American publication, a third of the tank brigades in the Armed Forces of Ukraine are only listed as part of the Ground Forces, in fact they are not. According to Forbes, there are six tank brigades in the Armed Forces of Ukraine: 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 14th and 17th. Of these, two - 5 and 14 - exist only on paper. According to the information of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the 5th tank brigade is allegedly stationed in Odessa, but does not make any movements, even with the start of the Russian special military operation of Russia. According to the Americans, if the brigade existed, it would have fought long ago either in the Donbass or in another direction, since it makes no sense to keep such forces in the rear in the current situation. The same goes for the 14th Tank Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which was listed in the documents of the General Staff, and then simply disappeared from all orders, etc. The publication expresses confidence that the case with the "virtual" tank brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is far from the first, just not everything is known yet. In Ukraine, it has long been a habit to advertise itself to the West with the help of fictitious achievements, units, etc., thereby showing the alleged combat capability of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #8 I like it, magpie! A most plausible theory. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2022-08-09 19:47 |
| #7 I am going to be generous and say part optimism and part bureaucratic corruption. Theory: the roster of Armored Brigades, along with other mechanized units, was decided on prior to 2014. Because of Russian "adventurism" (lets call it that) the Ukrainians needed to adopt a levée en masse to bulk up the army and switched to an army based on local "militias and volunteer" units discarding the "Modern Mechanized Army" -- no money and no time. Since then it was too much hassle to officially disband the ghost units and perhaps there were bureaucrats happy with their 'phoney baloney jobs' in the skeletons of the ghost units. |
| Posted by: magpie 2022-08-09 18:36 |
| #6 There is a difference between maskirova and cooking the books. Ukraine being Ukraine, my first suspicion is the latter. You could argue that it is all maskirovka, the only difference being whether the target is enemy forces or your own accountants. There was a story back in the Cold War days about a Russian sub being watched by satellite recon while it was docked at a pier. After a typhoon went thru the area, the photo analysts were amused to see the "sub" folded in half. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2022-08-09 16:23 |
| #5 In WW2 the US Army had an entire series of fictitious military formations. Left 'holes' in the numbering sequence of new units, had the Army heraldry department design 'authentic' unit insignia and even had a small group of radio transmitters mimic fake radio traffic when they supposedly were on training maneuvers (1942 and later). Quite involved and culminated in the deception plan for the D-Day invasion in 1944. |
| Posted by: magpie 2022-08-09 16:00 |
| #4 I'm reminded of Patton's First US Army Group in the run up to Normandy. |
| Posted by: Matt 2022-08-09 15:50 |
| #3 ...Yeah, but the four that are there seem to be doing quite well. And nonexistent tank brigades are perfectly compatible with the concept of maskirovka. You'd think the Russians would appreciate that. Mike |
| Posted by: MikeKozlowski 2022-08-09 14:42 |
| #2 Perhaps these units are awaiting delivery of tanks from Western Nations. It is difficult to deploy tanks that haven't yet been delivered. |
| Posted by: i forgot it 2022-08-09 12:23 |
| #1 They are still have a better time of it than the Russians are though. |
| Posted by: Chris 2022-08-09 10:30 |