{"id":7723,"date":"2025-06-18T00:04:26","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T00:04:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/ukrainian-drone-brigade-distances-itself-from-ex-volunteer-commanders-criticism\/"},"modified":"2025-06-18T00:04:26","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T00:04:26","slug":"ukrainian-drone-brigade-distances-itself-from-ex-volunteer-commanders-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/ukrainian-drone-brigade-distances-itself-from-ex-volunteer-commanders-criticism\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukrainian drone brigade distances itself from ex-volunteer commander’s criticism"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Ukrainian<\/p>\n

Ukraine’s 59th Brigade of the Unmanned Systems Forces said on June 17 that former fighter Ryan O’Leary no longer has access to current information about the unit’s operations and cannot speak on its behalf.<\/p>\n

The statement follows public criticism from O’Leary, an American volunteer<\/a> and former commander of the Chosen Company, who alleged widespread leadership failures within Ukraine’s Armed Forces. <\/p>\n

On June 14, O’Leary said mismanagement within the military, rather than Russia’s<\/a> action, was responsible for “more deaths,” accusing commanders of prioritizing personal power over troop welfare.<\/p>\n

“The officer corps behaves like a caste system of untouchables or ‘army lords,'” he wrote<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n

Chosen Company, originally formed as the 312 Swedish Volunteer Company at the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion<\/a> in 2022, has drawn members from more than 31 countries. <\/p>\n

Its first commander, Swedish veteran Edvard Selander Patrignani, was killed in action in July 2022. O’Leary took command afterward, and the unit was integrated into the 59th Brigade in early 2023.<\/p>\n

O’Leary accused the former commander of the 59th Brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Bohdan Shevchuk, of sending intelligence officers into reckless assaults, resulting in avoidable casualties. Shevchuk was recently removed<\/a> from command after being accused<\/a> of submitting false reports.<\/p>\n

“In the first two months of his command, he sent soldiers into unattainable positions with no hope of reinforcement or survival,” O’Leary claimed.<\/p>\n

In response, the 59th Brigade, deployed in the Pokrovsk<\/a> sector in Donetsk Oblast<\/a>, said O’Leary voluntarily resigned from service on Feb. 8, 2024, and has not taken part in any operations or internal decisions since.<\/p>\n

“He does not have up-to-date information on the state of affairs in the unit and cannot comment on it,” the brigade said<\/a>. “The dissemination of unfounded accusations and misinformation undermines morale and negatively affects the unit’s combat readiness.”<\/p>\n

The 59th Brigade emphasized that its soldiers continue to perform combat missions under challenging conditions and “maintain high efficiency and effectiveness.”<\/p>\n

O’Leary had announced<\/a> the disbandment of the Chosen Company on May 26, but said he would wait to discuss details until his contract officially ended.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n
\u2018A brutal strike\u2019 \u2014 Massive Russian missile and drone attack hits Kyiv, killing 10, injuring at least 124<\/div>\n
Russian drones and ballistic missiles targeted the capital overnight, killing 15 people and injuring at least 114, local authorities reported. Damage to civilian infrastructure has also been reported throughout the city.<\/div>\n
\"UkrainianThe Kyiv Independent<\/span>Olena Goncharova<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\"Ukrainian<\/div>\n

<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

– https:\/\/kyivindependent.com\/tag\/ukraine\/rss\/<\/p>\n

This article appeared on the websitekyivindependent.com
\nThis article is taken based on Law no. 8\/1996 of Romania. News does not enjoy copyright, so they can be taken, this is our right to take news and information in its entirety and distribute them further. The content was made available to us through the rss mechanism
\nOriginal Content<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ukraine’s 59th Brigade of the Unmanned Systems Forces said on June 17 that former fighter Ryan O’Leary no longer has access to current information about the unit’s operations and cannot speak on its behalf. The statement follows public criticism from O’Leary, an American volunteer and former commander of the Chosen Company, who alleged widespread leadership […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":7724,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1152,1],"tags":[1227,2454,2758,7218,1253,7219,746,2553,1178],"class_list":["post-7723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kyivindependent","category-news","tag-brigade","tag-commanders","tag-criticism","tag-distances","tag-drone","tag-ex-volunteer","tag-from","tag-itself","tag-ukrainian"],"yoast_head":"\nUkrainian drone brigade distances itself from ex-volunteer commander's criticism - News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/ukrainian-drone-brigade-distances-itself-from-ex-volunteer-commanders-criticism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ukrainian drone brigade distances itself from ex-volunteer commander's criticism - News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ukraine’s 59th Brigade of the Unmanned Systems Forces said on June 17 that former fighter Ryan O’Leary no longer has access to current information about the unit’s operations and cannot speak on its behalf. 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