As reported, the commander of the 1st battalion of the 47th mechanised brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Shyrshyn, said he was quitting his job. In a Facebook post, the officer harshly criticised the decisions of the command in the Kursk direction, calling them incompetent and leading to unjustified losses among personnel.
Journalist Yuriy Butusov, commenting on the battalion commander’s post, called on the higher military leadership to provide an official assessment of the situation.
‘I have never received more idiotic orders than those in the current direction… the senseless loss of people and trembling before a bunch of useless generals can only lead to failure,’ Shyrshin wrote. He added that he had already submitted a report and was ready to speak openly to journalists about the situation on the front line in the near future.
According to Butusov, this refers to failed operations near the village of Tyotkino, where Ukrainian Armed Forces units are attempting to launch a frontal attack under Russian drones that are recording and targeting Ukrainian equipment. The journalist notes that the tasks assigned do not correspond to the tactical reality, and the organisation of operations is weak, without taking into account modern threats and the needs of the troops.
Oleksandr Shyrshyn has been fighting since the first days of the full-scale invasion. He began his service in the 80th Air Assault Brigade, later commanding a company in the 47th Brigade, including during the fierce battles for Robotyne in 2023. His company was one of the first to break through the enemy’s defences. Shyrshyn took direct part in assaults, personally evacuated the wounded and dead, and always cared about the lives of his subordinates.
According to Butusov, Shyrshyn’s public statement is not only a protest by an officer, but also an alarming signal for the army and society. ‘This is the act of a warrior and a citizen,’ the journalist emphasises, calling for a thorough investigation of the command’s actions and for the battalion commander who raised this important issue to be supported rather than dismissed.