The State Bureau of Investigation is to investigate ‘Skelya’ in connection with the torture and deaths of conscripts in the regiment, as previously reported by the media
This is stated in a press release from the Bureau.
The relevant details have been entered into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations under Part 5 of Article 426-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — abuse of authority by military personnel.
The Bureau is currently attempting to establish the sequence of events, verifying the accuracy of the facts, and clarifying all the circumstances of the events outlined in the investigation.
The agency has promised a “proper legal assessment” of the actions of all those involved, should their involvement in the offences be confirmed.
What is happening at ‘Skelya’
On 23 June, the publication ‘Babel’ published a major investigation into the situation in the 425th Assault Regiment ‘Skelya’. The publication interviewed more than 30 witnesses, mainly relatives of those mobilised into ‘Skelya’, as well as a dozen or so soldiers from the regiment who had deserted or were still serving there.
As a result, 26 deaths were recorded at the regiment’s training centres over the past six months, with pneumonia cited as the official cause in most cases. We have also documented cases of torture and abuse of those undergoing training. In particular, the publication obtained a video showing the aftermath of the beating of one of ‘Skelya’s’ soldiers, Oleksandr Semenov. He subsequently died in hospital.
‘Skelya’ itself has already responded: they claim that the authors of the article are making generalisations that reduce the unit’s history to isolated tragic incidents, and that the majority of the deaths described occurred in hospital or en route to hospital and were linked to the illnesses and health conditions of the conscripts.
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