There are 14 brigades in Ukraine that have been formed for a long time. They are not completely without weapons. Something has begun to arrive, artillery and so on, but it is still a long way to go to a positive result. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a press conference, an UNN correspondent reports.
When asked whether the 14 understaffed brigades were created for a future counteroffensive, Zelensky answered: "They were created a long time ago, in different numbers. A reserve was created, but the reserve needs to be operational, combat-ready, not only with weapons, but preferably with training on the weapons it will be fighting with. That is, what the reserve does is already a task at the front of the military command, whether it is defense or offensive. The main thing is that you have a reserve, and first of all, it is for rotations. That was the task, we needed rotations so that the guys could have a rest.
Zelensky noted that these 14 brigades are not new.
The main thing is that you have a reserve, and first of all, it's for rotations. This was the task, we needed rotations so that the guys could have a rest. We needed a reserve, we looked at the number of reserves, the number of corresponding brigades. And all we asked was that these 14 brigades be manned. These are not new brigades. It was often a mistake to say that Ukraine wants new brigades. These are not new brigades - these are brigades without weapons
The President noted that these brigades are not completely without weapons, something has begun to arrive.
Of course, if we talk about whether they fought or not, then maybe they are fresher, these brigades. This is true, but they have also been formed for a long time, but without weapons, not quite without weapons. First of all, something has started to arrive, which is positive. Artillery and so on. But it's still a long way to go to a positive result
Addendum
In July 2024, Zelensky stated that the delivery of the promised weapons by partners was very slow, which is why 14 brigades of the Armed Forces are still incomplete.