Commander of the “Skelya” regiment Yuriy Harkavy was suspended after the Babel investigation. Inspections are ongoing

The commander of the 425th separate assault regiment "Skelya", Lieutenant Colonel Yuriy Harkavy, was suspended from duty for the duration of the inspections following the Babel investigation into the deaths, torture, and abuse of mobilized personnel in the regimentʼs training centers.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported this in a comment to Babel.

Currently, law enforcement officers work in the unit, in particular, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) is conducting a pre-trial investigation into the facts of possible illegal actions against the regimentʼs servicemen.

Also, by decision of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky, a comprehensive commission headed by the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is working in "Skelya".

While the checks and investigations are ongoing, the regiment commander Harkavy has been suspended from duty. The General Staff says that if the facts of criminal offenses mentioned in the Babel investigation are confirmed, the perpetrators will definitely be held accountable in accordance with the law.

"Also, in the event of confirmation of cases of abuse of authority by officials and violations of the rights of servicemen, the high command will adopt appropriate organizational and personnel decisions," the General Staff added, emphasizing that the conclusions will be based exclusively on verified facts, documents, results of official investigations, and court decisions.

The unit and command at all levels are facilitating a comprehensive investigation and are cooperating with law enforcement agencies, the Office of the Military Ombudsman, and media representatives, the General Staff noted.

At the same time, they added: the 425th separate assault regiment, like many other assault units, remains an effective component of the Defense Forces of Ukraine and continues to perform combat missions in the most difficult areas of the front.

"At the same time, it should be emphasized that the human dignity, life and health of every serviceman are the greatest value for the Armed Forces of Ukraine both on the battlefield and during training in the rear. Establishing the truth about each critical case, eliminating shortcomings and the inevitability of punishment for proven offenses remain the principled position of the military command," the General Staff emphasized.

• On June 23, Babel published a major investigation into the situation in the 425th Assault Regiment “Skelya”. We interviewed more than 30 witnesses, mostly relatives of those mobilized to “Skelya”, as well as a dozen soldiers from the regiment who escaped or are still serving there.
• Babel counted 26 deaths in the regiment’s training centers over the past six months, and also described cases of torture and abuse of those undergoing training.

• On June 24, SBI reported that it had launched an investigation following the Babel material, and the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets stated that on June 25, a monitoring group from the Ombudsmanʼs Office would go to the site to conduct an investigation.

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