The Facebook page of the 425th Separate Assault Regiment "Skelya" commented on the Babel investigation into torture and murder in the unit.
The regiment claims that the authors of the material make generalizations that reduce the history of the unit to individual tragic cases. Regarding the deaths: 18 out of 26, about which Babel wrote, occurred in the hospital or on the way to the hospital and were related to the illnesses and health of the mobilized, and the regiment does not conduct MMC.
"Skelya" claims that the material is based on the testimonies of those who refused to undergo training, went AWOL and in other ways violated military discipline and legislation.
Therefore, they believe that these statements require careful verification and cannot be considered without confirmation by facts, documents and the results of official investigations.
"Skelya" did not comment on any new specific episode of death, abuse, or torture that Babel described. The post only mentioned again that law enforcement officers detained Junior Sergeant Anatoliy Kucher in the case of the death of Volodymyr Tsukanov, and also about the death of Vitaliy Karat — about him "Skelya" stated that when the man went AWOL, he climbed a pine tree, fell from it, and died. As before, "Skelya" stated that investigative actions are ongoing in these cases.
The response of "Skelya" was commented on by veteran, the head of the human rights center for military personnel "Pryntsyp" Masi Nayem.
According to him, the fact of death in the hospital does not refute the reasons why a person ended up there. The command of "Skelya" calls not to draw premature conclusions until the investigation is completed, but at the same time claims that the deaths are really related to the illnesses of mobilized people. And even if a person who went AWOL or violated discipline gives testimony, this does not mean that he is lying.
- Today, June 23, Babel published an investigation by correspondent Kateryna Lykhohlyad. She interviewed more than 30 witnesses, mostly relatives of those mobilized to the "Skelya", as well as a dozen "Skelya" soldiers who escaped from the regiment or are still serving there.
- Kateryna counted 26 deaths in the regimentʼs training centers over the past six months, and also described cases of torture and abuse of those undergoing training.
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