The investigation in “Skelya”. A soldier suspected of beating other servicemen in the Kharkiv region has been taken into custody

A serviceman from the "Skelya" assault regiment, suspected of beating other servicemen in the Kharkiv region, has been remanded in custody until September 7 without bail.

This was reported by the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI).

This is a junior sergeant who was serving in the "Skelya" regiment at the time of the crimes. According to Babel, itʼs about Yevhen Harkusha.

The day before, he was charged with violating the statutory rules of relations between military personnel, as well as violence against a commander. He faces up to 10 years in prison.

The investigation established two cases of violence by a military man. The first occurred in May 2025 near one of the villages of the Izyum district. Soldiers from another unit arrived at the location of the "Skelya" deployment, and a conflict arose between them. The chaplain tried to resolve it, but, according to the investigation, the suspect beat him. The victim was hospitalized with a concussion and a fractured jaw.

The second episode occurred in June 2025 in the city of Barvinkove. The suspect attacked the lieutenant colonel, punched and kicked him in the head and torso, and broke a rib.

Whatʼs happening in "Skelya"

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.

Following the Babel material, the State Bureau of Investigation 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.

On July 7, Babel discovered seven more deaths of mobilized soldiers during exercises in Skela. Six of them, like the previous 25, occurred within six months — from the end of autumn 2025 to the spring of 2026. One — in the summer of last year.

Most of the mobilized soldiers died after spending less than a month in the regiment. In total, from the end of autumn last year to the spring of 2026, the editorial office recorded 31 deaths.

The head of the State Bureau of Investigation Oleksiy Sukhachev stated that 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.

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