Beaten and locked in shed for "breaches of discipline": two soldiers from "Skelia" regiment have been notified of suspicion of torturing their comrades – SBI. PHOTO

The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI ) has notified two servicemen from the ‘Skelia’ regiment that they are under suspicion of mistreating their comrades.

This was reported by Censor.NET, citing the State Bureau of Investigation’s press office.

As noted, the SBI takes a firm stance against cases of ill-treatment of military personnel and holds those responsible to account.

Details

SBI officers, with the assistance of the military unit’s command, served notices of suspicion to two servicemen from the medical company of the "Skelia" regiment who, according to the investigation, beat and unlawfully detained two fellow servicemen in the Kirovohrad region.

It has been established that in May 2026, the two soldiers were discharged from hospital for breaching the established regime and sent to the unit’s medical section. The suspects then decided to ‘punish’ them themselves for the disciplinary offence.

They struck the victims numerous times and then locked them in a utility building, where they continued to abuse them.
One of the soldiers lost consciousness. He was hospitalised with a traumatic brain injury, a fractured nasal bone and other physical injuries.

The other victim was unlawfully detained for almost another day. He was subsequently also taken to hospital with a traumatic brain injury, numerous bruises and haematomas.

Detentions and allegations

Both suspects have been detained. They have been notified of charges of torture and breaching the statutory rules governing relations between military personnel, accompanied by the beating and humiliation of several individuals (Part 2 of Article 127, Part 3 of Article 406 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The offences carry a maximum sentence of 12 years’ imprisonment.
The issue of imposing pre-trial measures in the form of remand in custody on the suspects is currently being considered.
The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.
As part of the proceedings, investigators from the State Bureau of Investigation are also examining individual reports of possible instances of mistreatment of military personnel at the regiment’s deployment and training locations.
The proceedings are being overseen by the Kirovohrad Specialised Prosecutor’s Office for Defence Matters in the Southern Region.

Charges against "Skelya"

On 23 June, the publication ‘Babel’ reported that between the end of 2025 and the spring of 2026, at least 26 recruits from the 425th Separate Assault Regiment ‘Skelia’ had died. 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 report, the journalists interviewed over 30 witnesses. One of them, Oleksandr Zhykin, spoke about ‘The Chicken Coop’ — the informal name for ‘Skelia’s’ sorting centre, which is the first location for newly arrived conscripts. He ended up there after being issued with an AWOL whilst he was out collecting tablets for substitution therapy for drug addiction.
Another anonymous interviewee spoke of the punishment cells to which 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 assured its cooperation with the investigation. "Skelia" believes that the authors of the article are making "generalisations that reduce the unit’s history to isolated tragic incidents". The regiment maintains that 18 of the 26 deaths mentioned in the report occurred in hospital or en route to hospital, and that the causes were linked to "illnesses or the generally poor state of health of the conscripts".
Previously, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) had already announced that it had launched an inquiry into alleged violations within ‘Skelia’, which are being investigated as abuses of power or official authority committed under martial law, resulting in serious consequences.
A monitoring group from the Ombudsman’s Office has stated that it will travel to the site to verify information regarding the possible torture of servicemen in the 425th Separate Assault Regiment "Skelia".
The 425th Separate Assault Regiment ‘Skelia’ has confirmed that 25 recruits have died.
Reports of 2,000 drug-addicted servicemen in the 425th Separate Assault Regiment "Skelia" are untrue.
"Skelia" has also commented on new information published by "Babel" regarding a further seven of its servicemen who died during basic general military training. The command emphasised that it is striving to "reduce to zero" non-combat casualties.