Text version:

Diana, I have one more question for you. You mentioned Skelya. At the beginning, we said that Skelya had distanced itself from Luchanov. You also mentioned that Oleksii Dolhonenko used to serve in Skelya. Could you briefly explain how the 155th Brigade is connected to Skelya? Are these simply former Skelya servicemen who were transferred to the 155th, or is there some kind of command relationship?

De facto, or rather de jure, there is no formal subordination. The 155th Brigade operates under the 7th Air Assault Corps, meaning it fights in the corps' sector. Administratively, however, it belongs to the 21st Army Corps. So, on paper, Skelya has nothing to do with it.

But here's what happened. After the 155th Brigade ran into serious problems during the difficult fighting on the Pokrovsk direction, Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi decided to effectively put someone from Skelya in charge. He appointed Luchanov, the regiment's chief of staff, to the brigade.

As far as I know, Skelya's plan was for the Skelya Regiment to continue operating as an assault regiment, while the 155th Brigade would serve as its infantry. In other words, the assault troops would seize positions, and the infantry would then move in and hold them.

Conflicts often arise in such situations. The assault troops say, "We've taken the positions, come and occupy them." The infantry replies, "No, you haven't fully cleared them. It's still dangerous, we're not moving in." Skelya wanted reliable infantry that they could count on to take over and hold the captured positions. In other words, they wanted to train the 155th Brigade to work alongside their regiment.

The 210th Unmanned Systems Battalion was also supposed to become part of this grouping. After the recent scandals, however, it seems those plans have been put on hold.

So formally, there is no connection. But it's obvious there was informal influence.

I also want to point out something. When I first investigated this story and spoke with various officers and servicemen, one of my sources explained what had happened but strongly asked me not to reveal anything that could identify him, not the unit, not the branch of service, not the corps, not the brigade, nothing at all.

He explained it by saying, "The 155th Brigade is run by Skelya. Everyone is afraid of them. Everyone fears there could be consequences."

So even if I had simply written in my article that the information came from a source in a certain unit, it would already have been revealing.

The Skelyya commanders I spoke with insisted they do not control the 155th Brigade. They say it is an independent formation that fights under the 7th Corps.

De facto, however, we can see that its leadership consists of people who came from Skelya. And even if Skelya did not directly command the brigade, I think it's fair to say they brought certain traditions into it, the same traditions for which the Skelya Regiment is known, in quotation marks.