Journalists from "Slidstvo.Info" have published an investigation into alleged abuse of military personnel in the 425th Separate Assault Regiment "Skelia." The report details the death of a conscript during an escape attempt, beatings of soldiers, cruel treatment at the training ground, and the possible cover-up of the circumstances surrounding their injuries.
This is stated in the publication’s report.
According to the journalists, the conscript Oleksandr Zavalov died after a soldier from the regiment opened fire on him while he was attempting to escape.
What is known about the conscript’s death?
The mother of the deceased, Lada Zavalova, said that after his father’s death, her son began using drugs and underwent treatment at a rehabilitation center in Odesa in the winter of 2026.
According to her, in January, staff at the Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Center stopped Oleksandr when he was not carrying any identification, after which he was sent to the 425th Separate Assault Regiment “Skelia.”
The woman claims that her son called from the training center about once a week. During their conversations, he complained of severe psychological distress and said he was not receiving the necessary medical care.
According to a soldier who spoke with the family, Oleksandr attempted to escape while being escorted to the restroom.
As the investigation established, 27-year-old regiment soldier Maksym Cherevan fired four shots from a CZ Bren 2 assault rifle at Zavalov. One of the bullets damaged his iliac artery, causing the conscript to die from massive blood loss within a few minutes.
What former members of the regiment are saying
Arkadii Kukshyn, a former soldier in the regiment, told reporters that he was mobilized despite having a legal deferment. He claims that he worked at a critical infrastructure facility, was a full-time student at a university, and, even before the start of the full-scale war, a court had removed him from military registration due to a criminal record.
According to Kukshyn, the soldiers were left without water at the training ground for nearly a day and a half because one of the mobilized men had not brought a bottle with him.
The man also said that he decided to flee across the mined training ground. During his escape, he sustained two injuries, after which he went into hiding, received treatment at home, and later illegally crossed the Ukrainian border through the Carpathian Mountains.
Another former soldier from the regiment reported that he served in “Skelia” for nine months in 2024, five of which he spent working as an instructor.
According to him, he trained conscripts, including convicted men and women. After a conflict between several women and medical personnel, the command, as the soldier claims, ordered him to beat his trainees.
He also stated that during one of the training sessions, the brother of the training ground commander struck a conscript in the face with the butt of an assault rifle for mishandling the weapon. According to the former soldier, the victim lost an eye. He was taken to a hospital in Pavlohrad, and after treatment, he was issued a medical report that classified the injury as a mine-blast injury.
What else is known about the violations in the “Skelia” regiment?
As a reminder, in May, “Suspilne Ivano-Frankivsk” reported, citing its own sources, that in March, five “Skelia” soldiers died shortly after being mobilized. Some of them had served in the unit for less than two weeks.
In June, the publication “Babel” released an investigation stating that 26 deaths of recruits were recorded in the training units of the 425th Separate Assault Regiment “Skelia” from late fall 2025 to spring 2026. Some of the cases have medical diagnoses, while others are linked to suicides or injuries. The regiment and the Office of the Military Ombudsman offer differing assessments of the causes and circumstances of the incidents.
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.
On June 25, Verkhovna Rada Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets reported that he had received information about possible torture and the establishment of detention facilities in the 245th Regiment. He announced the launch of an urgent investigation into the unit.
Yurii Harkavyi, the commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ 425th Separate Assault Regiment “Skelia,” has been suspended from duty pending an investigation into possible unlawful actions against the unit’s servicemembers.
Oleksii Sukhachov, the director of the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI), stated that prior to the publication of the journalistic investigation, the 425th Separate Assault Regiment "Skelia" had not been the subject of any complaints from the military command or other relevant agencies to the State Bureau of Investigations regarding possible violations.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, Ukrainian journalist and Sky News’ chief producer 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 at point-blank range. The regiment commander, the operational 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.
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