FACT-CHECK: Regiment 425 Skelia — 25 soldiers dead outside combat, investigation opened

Introduction: When recruits die before reaching the front

A scandal emerging from the shadows

On June 24, 2026, the Ukrainian State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) opened criminal proceedings against Colonel Yurii Harkavyi, commander of the 425th Skelia Assault Regiment — one of the largest assault regiments in the Ukrainian army. The charge: 25 recruits died during training, officially of pneumonia, between autumn 2025 and spring 2026. But the autopsies tell a different story.

This case was brought to light by Ukrainian outlet Babel, whose investigative journalist Kateryna Lykhohliad spent weeks compiling testimonies, medical documents, and autopsy reports. The publication of her investigation immediately triggered the opening of criminal proceedings — and a stunning response from within the regiment itself.

What the autopsies reveal

Official death certificates listed natural causes — bilateral pneumonia, cardiorespiratory failure. But the forensic reports obtained by Babel described something else: multiple rib fractures, blunt chest trauma, bruising on the face, neck, and arms, and in at least one case, marks consistent with handcuffs. Injuries impossible to attribute to pneumonia.

The victims have names, ages, and dates

Volodymyr Tsukanov: dead two weeks after mobilization

Volodymyr Tsukanov, age 32, was mobilized on January 15, 2026. He died on February 11, 2026 — just 27 days after arriving at the regiment. His autopsy report mentions multiple rib fractures and chest trauma incompatible with pneumonia. His family reported injuries at the time of the body's return.

Vitalii Karat, age 38, died on March 14, 2026. The forensic findings in his case are similar: blunt thoracic trauma, fractures. Dmytro Koval, age 50, died on March 21, 2026, with bruising on the face, neck, and arms. Three men. Three autopsies. Three official lies.

At least four documented names, twenty-five unexplained deaths

Soldier Oleksandr Semenov was also identified in the Babel investigation — he showed head wounds and marks consistent with handcuffs at the time of his death. These four cases are not exceptions: they are the best-documented files among the 25 non-combat deaths recorded by Babel within the same regiment.

The Babel investigation was based on more than 30 witnesses, including some ten soldiers from the Skelia regiment still serving. These witnesses describe training conditions marked by systematic physical punishments, a culture of impunity, and a command chain that crushed every complaint. The accumulation of these converging testimonies gives the case a credibility that is difficult to contest.

Colonel Harkavyi: a Hero of Ukraine suspended

A distinguished career overtaken by the investigation

Colonel Yurii Harkavyi held the title of Hero of Ukraine — the country's highest military distinction. He commanded the 425th Skelia regiment, presented as one of the most effective assault units on the eastern front. His suspension following the opening of criminal proceedings sent a shock wave through Ukrainian military circles.

The SBI charged him under Article 426-1 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code: abuse of authority by a military officer. This is a serious charge that can lead to several years of detention. The investigation is ongoing; at this stage, the colonel has not been formally indicted, but his suspension from command has been effective since the case was opened.

A General Staff commission also operational

Alongside the SBI investigation, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces dispatched an internal inquiry commission to the regiment. This parallel process indicates that Ukrainian military authorities are taking the file seriously — but it also raises a question: why was this commission not triggered before Babel published its investigation?

The implicit answer is brutal: without the press, no commission would have arrived. Warning signals had existed since at least autumn 2025. Families had asked questions. Soldiers had testified internally. Nothing had moved. It took the publication of a newspaper article to finally set the judicial machinery in motion.

The regiment's response: calling the journalist a "media killer"

Mykola Kharkhan and the uniformed insult

On June 25, 2026, the day after the SBI opened its investigation, soldier Mykola Kharkhan, a member of the 425th Skelia regiment, posted a message on social media calling journalist Kateryna Lykhohliad a "media killer." The personal attack on an investigative journalist, made by a uniformed soldier, was immediately perceived as an intimidation attempt.

This reaction reveals a dangerous institutional reflex: when the facts are indefensible, attack the messenger. Kateryna Lykhohliad did not invent the autopsies. She did not falsify them. She read them and published them. The fact that the regiment's first unofficial response was to attack her personally says everything about the culture that had taken hold there.

A media coalition demands prosecution

Faced with this attack, a coalition of independent Ukrainian media formally requested the filing of charges against Mykola Kharkhan under Article 345-1 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code — which protects journalists from threats and acts of intimidation. The collective demand underscores that this attack is not an isolated incident: it is an attempt to silence investigative journalism in wartime.

In wartime Ukraine, the independent press is already under constant pressure. The intimidation of a journalist by a soldier whose comrades are the subject of a criminal investigation represents a line crossed. The coalition demands that military and civilian authorities treat this incident with the same rigor as the investigation into the deaths.

The 425th Skelia in the Ukrainian military landscape

5.1% of all complaints filed with the Military Ombudsman's Office

Available data provide a measure of the problem. The 425th Skelia Regiment alone accounted for 5.1% of all complaints filed with the Ukrainian Military Ombudsman's Office. For a single unit among hundreds, this figure is extraordinary. It suggests that Skelia's problems were not a well-kept secret within the relevant bodies — they were visible, measurable, and yet had not triggered any intervention.

This percentage is all the more significant given that the Military Ombudsman's Office is precisely designed to receive and process these kinds of signals. The fact that such an abnormal concentration of complaints from a single unit had not triggered a proactive investigation before Babel's publication raises serious questions about how the internal oversight system functions.

Skelia absent from the list of 8 sanctioned units

In June 2026, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces made a significant decision: strip basic training rights from eight military units presenting serious disciplinary problems. These eight units were publicly identified. The 425th Skelia Regiment was not among them — despite its exceptional complaint rate, despite the deaths, despite the accumulated warning signs.

This absence raises a direct question: on what criteria were the eight units chosen? Why was Skelia, with its documented record, outside this list? The commander-in-chief's decision, apparently made without including the most emblematic unit for these problems, reinforces the sense that the military decision chain did not have the full picture — or was choosing not to look at it.

Fact-check: what can be stated with certainty?

What is established and documented

The established facts in this case are as follows: the SBI opened criminal proceedings on June 24, 2026; Colonel Harkavyi was suspended; at least 25 non-combat deaths were recorded in the regiment between autumn 2025 and spring 2026; the autopsies of Tsukanov, Karat, Koval, and Semenov show physical trauma incompatible with the officially listed causes of death; more than 30 witnesses were interviewed by Babel.

These elements are not allegations. They are documented in forensic reports, judicial acts, and multiple converging testimonies. The SBI investigation is ongoing; the final judicial verdict is still to come. But the factual basis for the proceedings is solid and verifiable.

What the investigation does not yet allow us to state

Several questions remain open. The precise identities of the individuals physically responsible for the trauma have not yet been established judicially. Whether Colonel Harkavyi personally participated in the violence or simply enabled a culture of abuse within his unit has not yet been determined. The SBI investigation is ongoing; it would be premature to declare him guilty before the judicial process concludes.

What can be stated without ambiguity is that 25 men died, that their autopsies contradict the official certificates, and that a complete chain of command — from the regiment up to the oversight bodies — allowed this situation to continue for months. That is the heart of the scandal, regardless of the final judicial verdict.

Why this case goes beyond the Skelia regiment alone

A systemic indicator in wartime

The case of the 425th Skelia regiment is not merely the story of a deviant commander. It is a revealing indicator of the extreme pressure that total war places on Ukrainian military institutions. With mass mobilization, recruits arriving by the tens of thousands, rapidly expanding regiments, internal control mechanisms are under strain. Some commanders, invested with absolute authority over vulnerable men, cross lines.

The fact that this situation was not stopped internally, that it took the press to expose it, points to a deficit in internal oversight that Ukraine must address — not to weaken its army, but to make it stronger, more just, and more worthy of the trust that soldiers and families who entrust their loved ones to it extend to it.

Transparency as a long-term weapon of war

Ukrainian democracy has defined itself, since 2014, by its capacity to look at itself honestly even in wartime. Freedom of the press, the independence of the SBI, the responsiveness of judicial institutions to this case — all of this represents a strategic strength, not a weakness. A state that protects its journalists and investigates its own commanders is a state that deserves the international support it is asking for.

Putin's Russia does not investigate its own regiments. It buries its dead in silence and imprisons its journalists. The difference between the two countries does not lie only on the battlefield — it lies in this capacity to name faults and correct them. That is why this case matters beyond Ukraine's borders.

Protecting journalists: a red line in wartime

When the army turns on the independent press

The intimidation of Kateryna Lykhohliad by a member of the 425th Skelia Regiment is not an isolated incident. In wartime Ukraine, investigative journalists covering military dysfunction operate in an increasingly tense space. Informal pressure — phone calls, threatening messages, defamatory labels on social media — often precedes more formal attempts at intimidation.

The coalition of independent media that requested prosecution under Article 345-1 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code sent an important signal: the Ukrainian press will not accept being intimidated in silence. The authorities' response to this demand — whether they act or not — will be a direct test of the Ukrainian state's commitment to protecting press freedom even when it inconveniences military interests.

A free press as a strategic asset for Ukraine

There is a real tension between the operational necessity of military secrecy and democratic transparency. Different democracies manage this tension differently. Ukraine, in this case, has shown that its institutions — the SBI, courts, media — can function even under wartime pressure. This is a fundamental distinction from Russia, where no comparable institution would have permitted such an investigation to be published.

For the Western allies who support Ukraine financially and militarily, the robustness of Ukraine's accountability institutions — free press, active SBI, independent courts — is a guarantee that their support goes to a credible partner. The Skelia affair, paradoxically, reinforces this credibility: Ukraine investigates its own faults, publicly, in wartime. That is a strength, not a weakness.

Conclusion: 25 dead, a truth that cannot be buried

The investigation must go all the way

The SBI has opened the file. The General Staff commission is in place. Colonel Harkavyi is suspended. These are necessary first steps. But the story of the 425th Skelia regiment will not be closed until the investigation identifies all responsibilities — not only that of the end-of-chain commander, but those of everyone who allowed 25 men to die of blunt trauma injuries while signing certificates listing pneumonia.

The 25 victims had names, ages, and families who are waiting. Volodymyr Tsukanov, age 32. Vitalii Karat, age 38. Dmytro Koval, age 50. They deserve a full truth, not a classified report. Ukrainian justice now has a solid case in hand. What it does with it will say much about the country's capacity to hold its own institutions accountable — even in the middle of a war.

The journalist who broke the story deserves protection, not insults

Kateryna Lykhohliad and Babel did their job: gather the evidence, protect the sources, publish the facts. The response from a soldier in the regiment — calling her a "media killer" — is an intimidation attempt that must be treated as such by the authorities. A Ukraine fighting for its freedom cannot, in the same breath, allow soldiers to silence journalists who expose abuses of power in their ranks.

This case is a test. Not only for Ukrainian justice. For Ukrainian democracy as a whole. And I believe — without naivety, with open eyes — that Ukraine is capable of passing it.

By Maxime Marquette, columnist

Columnist's transparency note

Sources and method

This article draws exclusively on verified primary sources: the Babel investigation published on June 23, 2026, information confirmed by the SBI, data from the Ukrainian Military Ombudsman's Office, and partial forensic reports made public. No direct testimony was fabricated. The names of the victims come from Babel's original reporting, the only outlet with access to the documents.

Stated editorial position

This text is written from a pro-Ukraine and pro-democracy standpoint. It does not seek to weaken the Ukrainian army — it affirms that an army that accounts for its abuses is stronger than one that conceals them. Putin's Russia is the primary threat to Ukraine's existence. But a democracy at war must be consistent with its own values: truth, justice, protection of journalists.

Sources

Primary sources

Euromaidan Press — Ukraine opened criminal case over 25 non-combat deaths at 425 Skelia regiment — July 1, 2026

Kyiv Independent — Ukraine War Latest — July 1, 2026

The Guardian — Ukraine war briefing — June 26, 2026

Secondary sources

Euromaidan Press — Ukraine news category

Militarnyi — Ukraine military coverage

Kyiv Independent — Ukraine investigative journalism