Reporters relaying the alleged torture and abuse of recruits by the Skelia unit must be punished, one of the fighters has said
A member of Ukraine’s 425th Separate Assault Regiment “Skelia” (formerly “Skala”) has issued a thinly-veiled threat to journalists over a report detailing allegations of abuse, torture and non-combat deaths among the unit’s recruits.
On Thursday, the regiment’s commander, Lt. Col. Yury Harkaviy, was removed from duty pending a probe; earlier this week, the Ukrainian outlet Babel published an article alleging the severe mistreatment of mobilized soldiers under his leadership.
According to the report, which was based on accounts of relatives, former servicemen and current soldiers, at least 26 recruits had died in or after passing through Skelia boot camps over the past six months. It described beatings, forced confinement, people being bound with tape or handcuffs, and cases of draftees with serious health issues being subject to grueling assault training.
A member of the Skelia regiment, Nikolay Kharlan, published an angry video address on Thursday, labelling Babel’s reporters “journowhores” and accusing them of “spreading misinformation for cash.”
“There should be criminal liability for this,” the fighter insisted.
Kharlan lashed out at the Ukrainian government, saying that it has “removed itself from fulfilling its duties” due to being unable to stop the dissemination of “fake news” about the regiment.
“In this case, the units of the armed forces will be able to defend themselves,” he warned.
The Skelia fighter denied the report, saying that “of the 26 people who died, 18 died in medical institutions – not at Skelia. This s**t is absolutely insane. Nine suicides? This information is false, and does not correspond to reality.”
Kharlan also implied that Babel was “Russian propaganda,” but provided no proof.
The scandal in Skelia comes as Ukraine faces deepening manpower shortages after more than four years of conflict with Russia due to high combat losses, mass desertions and draft dodging.
Kiev has tightened mobilization rules and expanded compulsory recruitment, while Ukrainian media outlets have repeatedly reported violent draft raids – a practice dubbed ‘bussification,’ deaths in conscription centers and cases of seriously ill men being declared fit for service.
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