There are no grounds for dismissing Syrskyi due to situation at "Skelia", - Venislavskyi
Fedir Venislavskyi, a member of parliament from the "Servant of the People" faction and a member of the parliamentary committee on national security, defense, and intelligence, stated that the situation in the 425th Separate Assault Regiment "Skelia" does not constitute grounds for the dismissal of Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
According to Censor.NET, citing Ukrainska Pravda, the MP made this statement on the program "Svoboda Live" (Radio Svoboda).
"To date, he has been very effective in carrying out his duties and tasks to liberate our territory and repel the enemy. I believe there is definitely no reason to relieve the commander-in-chief of his duties," said Venislavsky.
The investigation is ongoing
According to the member of parliament, law enforcement agencies must identify all those involved in possible criminal offenses and assess their actions from a legal standpoint.
He also reported that the battalion commander of the "Skelia" regiment has already been suspended from duty.
"The pre-trial investigation authorities must identify all those involved—those who committed criminal offenses and those who facilitated the commission of criminal offenses—and take appropriate action," Venislavsky emphasized.
What happened before that?
- On June 23, the publication "Babel" reported that between late 2025 and spring 2026, at least 26 recruits died in the 425th Separate Assault Regiment "Skelia." Journalists reported that most of the men who died had not even spent a month in the regiment. The official cause of death in most cases was pneumonia.
- For this article, journalists interviewed more than 30 witnesses. One of them, Oleksandr Zhikin, spoke about "The Chicken Coop"—the informal name for the "Skelia" distribution point, which serves as the first stop for newly mobilized recruits. He ended up there after being issued a mobilization order while he was on his way to pick up medication for drug addiction treatment.
- Another anonymous source spoke about the punishment cells where soldiers were sent for refusing to carry out various orders.
- For its part, the "Skelia" regiment commented on the non-combat deaths of recruits and pledged to cooperate with the investigation. "Skelia" believes that the authors of the article are making "generalizations that reduce the unit’s history to isolated tragic incidents." The regiment asserts that 18 of the 26 deaths mentioned in the article occurred in the hospital or on the way there, and that the causes were related to "illnesses or the generally poor health of the conscripts."
- The State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) had previously announced that it had launched an investigation into alleged violations at "Skelia," which are being investigated as abuses of power or official authority committed under martial law, resulting in serious consequences.
- The Monitoring Group of the Ombudsman's Office stated that it will travel to the site to verify reports of possible torture of military personnel in the 425th Separate Assault Regiment "Skelia".
