Scandal at "Skelia" is blow to mobilisation, - Onistrat. VIDEO
The situation surrounding the 425th Separate Assault Regiment "Skelia" is affecting the country’s overall defence capability, as people who, for whatever reason, have so far avoided mobilisation will now continue to evade it, using the media scandal as a pretext.
This was stated by Andrii Onistrat, a military officer and former banker, in the latest episode of the ‘Money of War’ podcast for Liga.net, reports Censor.NET.
"I’m all for journalists doing their job. As of yesterday, I realised that nobody paid ‘Bebelu’ for this (the publication of the scandalous material – Ed.); they simply don’t understand much about war and are a bit of a hype-seekers when it comes to this topic. It immediately propels them to the top; everyone is talking about it. I’m all for them writing whatever they like, but I’m against us basing our strategies on the words of drug addicts," he clarified.
It was previously reported that Onistrat had cast doubt on the evidence on which the charges against "Skelia" are based.
What led up to this?
- On 23 June, the publication "Babel" reported that between late 2025 and spring 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 a military ID card 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 it, 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 two thousand drug-addicted servicemen in the 425th Separate Assault Regiment "Skelia" are untrue.
