The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), prior to the publication in the Babel outlet, had not received any information about possible facts of torture in the 425th separate assault regiment Skelya from either the military command or other services, there were only complaints from victims on which investigations were conducted, SBI Director Oleksiy Sukhachov notes.
"We did not receive information from the military command regarding negative situations in Skelya. There were certain complaints from victims, and proceedings were immediately registered based on them," Sukhachov said in an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
Clarifying whether information regarding possible offenses at the Skelya training grounds had been received from any other services, the SBI director said: "Unfortunately, no. Although both the AFU and other law enforcement agencies have relevant services that should possess such information and respond to it in a timely manner."
Sukhachov noted that the Bureau is a small body in terms of numbers and cannot always promptly receive the entire volume of information from military units if there are no appeals from victims, the military command, or other law enforcement agencies.
The Bureau director reported that currently, 5 criminal proceedings regarding Skelya, which were registered in 2025 and early 2026, are being investigated in the Poltava territorial administration of the SBI.
"The last, sixth one, was registered in the Main Investigative Directorate of the SBI after the publication of the journalistic investigation," he added.
Sukhachov informed that all these proceedings will be combined in the near future.
"A joint investigative team from among the employees of the central apparatus and the territorial administration will already organize the further investigation," he noted.
As reported, in June 2026, the Babel outlet published an investigation into the 425th separate assault regiment "Skelya." According to the publication, from the end of 2025 to the spring of 2026, at least 25 people died among the recruits of the 425th separate assault regiment Skelya, and these are deaths not resulting from combat operations. Relatives of some of the deceased claim untimely medical assistance and possible violence.
Immediately after the publication, the SBI reported that it had started a pre-trial investigation into the facts published in the media regarding possible unlawful actions against servicemen of the 425th separate assault regiment Skelya.
SBI investigators entered the relevant data into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations under Part 5 of Article 426-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – excess of authority or official powers by a military official, committed under martial law, which caused severe consequences.
Later, the General Staff of the AFU informed the Interfax-Ukraine agency that the commander of the 425th separate assault regiment SkelyaYuriy Harkavy had been suspended from his duties for the duration of checks and investigations in connection with the information published in the media.
The head of the civil-military cooperation group of the 425th separate assault regiment Skelya Andriy Suray confirmed the facts of deaths among the recruits and noted that a check is underway regarding each case.
"We can accurately confirm that we had the mentioned servicemen who were allegedly beaten. We confirm that they committed a crime called unauthorized abandonment of the unit. We also confirm the deaths of 25 out of 26, because we were never able to identify one person," he said at an online press conference.
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky called the story published in the media about the deaths of servicemen in the 425th separate assault regiment Skelya shameful and blamed it on individuals whose actions devalue the achievements of both the regiment itself and the assault troops as a whole.
"There must be openness, as far as possible, because such cases cannot be silenced – they must be reacted to immediately in accordance with the law, in a lawful way. On one hand, not to create hysteria around this regiment, because the regiment is a combat one, it has traditions that arose, which were created during the war, it fights in the most difficult areas of the front, servicemen of this regiment have repeatedly shown examples of courage, steadfastness, heroism, bravery in the performance of combat missions. And the combat path of this regiment cannot be distorted as a result of the actions of these individual criminals who cast a shadow on both the regiment and the Land Forces in general, and on the Armed Forces, on the assault troops," Syrsky said in an interview with the TV news service of channel 1+1.
