How should civilians treat army scandals? Case of 47th Brigade and Markus

If we detach ourselves from the personality of Markus, the main problem with his action is that it opened a Pandora's box, making public the eternal soldier's dissatisfaction with the decision of the command. Soldiers are always dissatisfied - this is an axiom of all wars and all times. But it is also an ironclad rule that this dissatisfaction should remain at the level of grumbling over evening soup with comrades. But not in public, and not with rude language.

Prigozhin was engaged in something similar. We could all see what it led to. But we must understand that the main advantage of the Ukrainian army is its unity in the fight for its country. And it is this unity that outweighs any problems, despite there are many in the Armed Forces.

Markus's action destroys this unity and shows many dissatisfied people the way to, if not rebellion, then at least bringing intra-army and personal problems to the public. The Ukrainian army is strong in its understanding of the common tasks, so internal quarrels are precisely what it is strictly forbidden to have. Actually, like any army.

Now to the specific circumstances. Markus's action is also dangerous because it sends us back to 2014, when the Armed Forces were just being born. And it was constantly faced with mini-rebellions by those who did not want to fit into the structure or wanted to be ataman. The very fact that a report, which is an official document, is publicly posted online is a violation of the law. This is a very dangerous precedent in wartime. Today, a disgruntled sergeant posts a report with swear words against his commander, whom he himself has recently praised. But now, amid serious losses in the unit, everything has gone wrong, including personal relationships. And tomorrow, maybe some general, dissatisfied with being passed over for promotion, will present strategic plans or give interviews to the undemanding media, hungry for sensations?

Are there problems in the Ukrainian Armed Forces with decision-making and the use of soldiers? Of course, there are a lot of them. But this is a place for a professional conversation, not hysterics with personal insults thrown out in public. The army is not a place for PR and personal ambitions. Yes, army procedures can be very off-putting for people accustomed to media coverage. However, this mechanism of coercion of hundreds of thousands of people does not work in any other way.

And one more aspect is very unpleasant. It is related to the constant desire of the Presidential Office to interfere in the actions of the military. And the deep distrust of Zelenskyy and Co. in the army. That is why, from the very beginning, the Presidential Office has relied on the promotion of its media faces, which are supposed to accumulate all the positive aspects of the Armed Forces' actions. In order to get on the election lists later. And right now, they are opposing unwanted generals or soldiers in the media. Even if these soldiers or officers are lower in rank or achievements, they will be put in the foreground if they are in the President's Office's favor. This is completely contrary to the army chain of command and basic justice.

This is a very disgusting tactic that has been harming and continues to harm the said unity from the first seconds. However, Zelenskyy's team does not know how to play in any other way.

This tactic increases discord in the army, constantly provoking scandals and envy. The story of Markus, who went to take pictures with the president in the midst of the fighting, according to his own comrades, had a rather negative impact on the attitude towards him and the overall morale of the brigade, which was just in bloody battles. It was suffering losses.

This story shows one thing: the army should be run by the military, not politicians. There should be no place for politics and personal PR in the army. Soldiers should either do PR and volunteer for the camera or fight. The army should have a clear management structure, which should not be interfered with by politicians who are thirsty for personal PR during the war.

I respect Sergeant Markus, who joined the Ukrainian army long before the Anti-Terrorism Operation in 2014. He went through the battles of the first wave - he was near Sloviansk, Vuhlehirsk and Debaltseve. At first, he left for civilian life. But he returned to the Ukrainian Armed Forces in 2022.

He has many public photos and recordings with a young officer Ivan Shalamaha. They were comrades before this report and the public quarrel. Both are young, talented and fearless.

I assume that the losses during the counteroffensive in the minefields in the Zaporizhzhia region broke them both. And someone's lid was blown off first.

But I ask everyone to refrain from dividing into teams of haters and fans. I am sure that without this social media post with the report, the young men would have found a common language and come to a logical solution faster.

For everyone who writes that someone is broken and should be thrown in the trash, I want to remind you that the male resource in our country and in this war is not unlimited. We will not have better men. We will not have others. Those who fled like a rat for all the dollars in the world will not come to defend Ukraine. So we need to talk to those who did not run away and were not afraid. And with their life and work, they have earned unquestioning respect.

I believe in the 47th Brigade and that it will survive these conflicts. A number of our units have experienced similar hits, but many of them have now become a sign of quality and how to properly grind the occupying Russian forces. 

Specially for Espreso

About the author. Maryna Danyliuk-Yarmolaieva, journalist.

The editors don't always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.