Before the publication of Babel, SBI had not received any information about possible torture in “Skelya” from the command or other services

Before the Babel material, the State Bureau of Investigation had not received information about possible torture in "Skelya" either from the command or from other services.

The SBI head Oleksiy Sukhachev said this in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

"We did not receive any information from the military command regarding negative situations in ʼSkelyaʼ. There were certain complaints from the victims, and proceedings were immediately registered on them," he says.

According to him, there was no information about possible violations at the "Skelya" training grounds from other services.

The Director of the Bureau reported that the Poltava Regional Department of the State Bureau of Investigation is currently investigating 5 criminal proceedings against "Skelya", which were registered in 2025 — early 2026.

The last, sixth, was registered with the Main Department of the State Bureau of Investigation after the investigation of Babel. All these proceedings will be combined in the near future.

Whatʼs happening at "Skeya"

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 identified 25 deaths in the regiment’s training centers over the past six months, and also described cases of torture and abuse of those undergoing training.

The material also discusses the service of people with drug addiction. For example, one of the active soldiers of the "Skelya" witnessed a "zombie apocalypse" during a formation, to which drug addicts were brought: people were beaten, some defecated involuntarily right in line.

Another mobilized man anonymously told how he spent two days in a punishment cell with six people, four of whom were in a state of abstinence. Drug addicts were breaking down doors, rioting, and the guards calmed them down by spraying tear gas into the cell.

The editorial office also has anonymous evidence that the unit held mobilized people with HIV, tuberculosis, and hepatitis C, depriving them of the opportunity to take life-saving medications. However, most of the people who died did not have serious illnesses or drug addiction.

Following the Babel material, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) launched a pre-trial investigation into the facts made public by Babel. The regiment is staffed by a mission from the Ombudsmanʼs Office and a comprehensive commission headed by the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. On June 24, the commander of the 425th regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Yuriy Harkavy, was suspended from duty for the duration of the inspection.

In addition, after the publication of the investigation, we received numerous appeals from relatives of “Skelya” recruits who died during AWOL. Babel counted at least seven such deaths, six of them in the last six months. More details about their circumstances can be found in the news.

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