The Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov, has stated that the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF), which came under attack by Russian forces in the Zaporizhia region in early November, neglected safety measures. He made this statement on his Facebook page (owned by Meta, a company recognized as extremist and banned in Russia).
Umerov noted that the brigade’s command, despite being aware of the presence of a reconnaissance drone in their area, ignored this fact and disregarded all camouflage measures. Over 10 vehicles were parked near the award ceremony site, and no centralized security measures were taken at the gathering location.
In early November, soldiers from the 128th separate Zakarpattia Mountain Assault Brigade of the UAF came under fire from Russian forces during an award ceremony in the Zaporizhia region, 30 km away from the front line. Survivors interviewed by The Washington Post describe it as a “bloody massacre.” Ukrainian military personnel are puzzled as to why the command did not relocate the ceremony to a safer location.
Previously, the United States identified this incident as one of the greatest threats to the UAF.
