Commander of Skelia Regiment Harkavyi suspended during investigation into situation in unit
Commander of the 425th Separate Assault Regiment "Skelia," Lieutenant Colonel Yurii Harkavyi, has been suspended from his duties for the duration of inspections following a media investigation into possible deaths, torture, and abuse of the regiment’s soldiers.
As reported by Censor.NET, this was announced by the regiment’s officer Oleksii Bratushchak during an online conference.
What is known?
According to him, there is currently no information on who will perform the duties of commander during this period.
"I contacted our relevant services to ask whether an order had already been issued appointing an acting commander, but as of now there has been no response," Bratushchak said.
What the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine says
Law enforcement officers are currently working in the unit. In particular, the State Bureau of Investigation is conducting a pre-trial investigation into possible wrongful actions against servicemen of the regiment.
In addition, by decision of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi, a comprehensive commission headed by the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is working in Skelia.
While the inspections and investigation are ongoing, regiment commander Harkavyi has been suspended from his duties. The General Staff said that if the facts of criminal offenses mentioned in Babel’s investigation are confirmed, those responsible will be held accountable under the law.
"Also, if cases of abuse of authority by officials and violations of servicemen’s rights are confirmed, the higher command will make the relevant organizational and personnel decisions," the General Staff added, stressing that conclusions will be based exclusively on verified facts, documents, the results of official investigations, and court decisions.
At the same time, the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine added that the 425th Separate Assault Regiment, like many other assault units, remains an effective component of Ukraine’s Defense Forces and continues to carry out 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 highest value for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, both on the battlefield and during training in the rear. Establishing the truth regarding every critical case, eliminating shortcomings, and ensuring the inevitability of punishment for proven offenses remain the principled position of the military command," the General Staff stressed.
Background
- On June 23, Babel reported that from the end of 2025 to spring 2026, at least 26 recruits of the 425th Separate Assault Regiment Skelia had died. The journalists said most of the men who died had not spent even a month in the regiment. The official cause of death in most cases was pneumonia.
- For the article, journalists interviewed more than 30 witnesses. One of them, Oleksandr Zhykin, spoke about the "Kuriatnyk," the informal name of Skelia's distribution point, which is the first location for newly arrived mobilized men. The man ended up there after he was registered as absent without leave when he went to get pills for substitution therapy for drug addiction.
- Another anonymous source spoke about punishment cells where servicemen were sent for refusing to carry out various orders.
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For its part, the Skelia Regiment commented on the non-combat deaths of recruits and assured that it was cooperating with the investigation. Skelia believes that the authors of the article make "generalizations that reduce the history of the unit to individual tragic cases." The regiment claims that 18 of the 26 deaths mentioned in the article occurred in the hospital or on the way there, and that their causes were related to "illnesses or the generally poor health of the mobilized men."
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Earlier, the SBI had already announced that it had launched a check into alleged violations in Skelia, which are being investigated as abuse of authority or official powers committed under martial law and causing grave consequences.
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A monitoring group from the Ombudsman’s Office said it would go to the site to verify information about possible torture of servicemen in the 425th Separate Assault Regiment "Skelia."
