Soldiers from Skelia regiment opened fire on vehicle belonging to British television network Sky News; case was swept under rug
Ukrainian journalist and chief producer for Sky News in Ukraine, Azad Zafarov, stated that in 2025, while filming with the 425th Separate Assault Regiment “Skelia,” a car with a female driver inside was shot up from the inside. The regiment commander, the sector’s press center, and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine did not respond to journalists’ inquiries and did not conduct an internal investigation into the incident. Zafarov wrote about this on his Facebook page on Thursday, June 25.
The journalist noted that this was the first time such a situation had occurred in all his years of filming. According to him, a British television channel was conducting routine filming on the front lines in March 2025 near Dobropillia. The film crew arrived at the location in two cars. Zafarov explained that one car, with the driver and a press officer, was left at the regiment’s command post, while the other car, with the second press officer, drove off to film. Later, the driver told them over the phone that her car had been shot at point-blank range from the driver’s side.
"We counted 12 bullet holes in the car. Twelve. We were very lucky that the car was armored. Yes, this was a filming session with the 425th Regiment ‘Skelia.’ The very same ‘Skelia.’ Nothing like this has ever happened to us in all these years,” the journalist wrote.
Moreover, it later turned out that before the shooting, the driver was not invited into the command post and was told to stay in the car, while the press officer went into cover himself. After the shooting, another soldier ran out, began collecting shell casings, and told the driver to “get out of there, because now they’ll be shooting at other cars,” Zafarov wrote. A year later, the journalists had received no response. Zafarov reported that the regiment commander, a lieutenant colonel, merely promised to look into the matter, but neither the press center nor the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine responded directly.
“I kept quiet for over a year because I thought it might be an isolated incident. Sky News could have caused an international scandal, but chose not to because they support our country. Now, reading about Skelia, I realize there’s no point in staying silent. This is horrific,” Zafarov concluded.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, reported that he had received information about alleged torture, the establishment of detention facilities, and the driving of active-duty soldiers to suicide in the 425th Separate Assault Regiment “Skelia.”
On June 24, the State Bureau of Investigation entered the information into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations and launched an investigation following media reports of alleged torture and deaths of conscripts in the “Skelia” assault regiment.