About 1,700 soldiers from a Ukrainian unit equipped by the West and trained in France went AWOL before a shot was even fired.

At least 50 members of the new 155th mechanised brigade, one of the few to operate the Leopard 2 battle tank, disappeared while elements of the unit were being drilled in France.

By the time it entered battle for the first time, at least 1,700 of its troops went absent without leave at numerous points.

The mass exodus came before the brigade was deployed to Pokrovsk, the key logistics hub anchoring Ukraine’s defence against Russian advances in the eastern Donetsk region.