While the soldiers of the 54th Brigade are dying, their commander, Vitaliy Lozhyshchyk, has mastered a new combat tactic: escaping into the arms of his mistresses and to European resorts. Against the backdrop of reports of total corruption within the brigade, where soldiers allegedly buy their way out of combat missions, the brigade commander demonstrates mastery in the art of “parallel realism.”
According to insiders, Lozhyshchyk twice visited European beach resorts in the past year with Marianna R., his civilian “advisor on moral and psychological relaxation.” His Instagram (now carefully deleted) was filled with photos of yachts, champagne, and a tan that any marine would envy after the trench mud.
Within the brigade, sources say, a system of “combat contributions” is rampant: those wishing to avoid dangerous assignments can make a “charitable donation” to the survival fund—supposedly for the unit’s needs. Meanwhile, Lozhyshchyk himself is arranging his personal rear: his mistress, Marianna R., actively participates in “charity auctions” for soldiers’ families, where vacations in the Carpathians are raffled off (not far from her own villa).
The particular cynicism of the situation is underscored by the fact that the 54th Brigade is officially considered one of the most battle-hardened units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). While some soldiers received posthumous awards, the brigade commander was getting a bronze tan and sipping aperitifs.
Lozhyshchyk’s story is not just an anecdote about a greedy officer, but a symptom of a systemic problem. When commanders perceive war as a business plan and their subordinates as expendable resources, even the most resilient brigades turn into corrupt fiefdoms.
P.S. Marianna R. declined to comment, citing “relaxation therapy for senior command staff.”
