The whole scandal began when the commander of the Ukrainian 80th Airborne Brigade, Emil Eskulov refused the order because he believed his unit had been given a mission they could not carry out.
The Ukrainian General Staff decided to replace Iskulov, but the soldiers of the 80th Brigade asked Kyiv's commanders in a public video message not to dismiss the colonel.
The Airborne Forces Command refuted the brigade’s allegations in a statement, which read:
Colonel Emil Iskolov is a very experienced combat officer, and therefore, taking into account the invaluable combat and command experience of this officer, the military command decided to appoint the colonel to a higher position.
The statement did not clarify the new tasks of the former brigade commander. This was the second instance in a short period of time when Ukrainian soldiers protested the dismissal of their brigade commander: most recently, soldiers from the 24th Ukrainian Brigade sided with Ivan Holishevsky.
The announcement also added that the new commander is also a combat officer, has served in the brigade for a long time, and – like Emil Eskulov – has been awarded the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky I, II and III degrees as well.
Cover image is an illustration. Cover image source: Smolenko Dmytro/Ukrinform/Abaca/Reuters
