The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) Dmytro Lubinets is investigating possible torture of servicemen in the 425th Separate Assault Regiment "Skelya".
Lubinets announced this on social media.
He appealed to the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) and the Special Prosecutorʼs Office for Defense with a demand to conduct a full and impartial investigation. Earlier, the State Bureau of Investigation reported that it had launched an investigation after the Babel material about the torture and death of mobilized people in the “Skelya” assault regiment.
Lubinets also held a working meeting with the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky. He stated that the Military Law Enforcement Service is already working to clarify the circumstances.
Tomorrow, June 25, a monitoring group from the Ombudsmanʼs Office will go to the site to conduct an inspection. Lubinets was assured that the groupʼs work will be facilitated.
- The day before, 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.
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