Ukrainian regiment 'tortured and beat its own soldiers to death'

By PERKIN AMALARAJ, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER Published: 09:40, 2 July 2026 | Updated: 09:43, 2 July 2026 Ukrainian soldiers are allegedly being tortured and beaten to death by their own comrades, an investigation has claimed.  At a training centre run by the 425th Separate Assault Regiment - also known as 'Skelya' - at least 25 Ukrainian soldiers have died in the past six months, with many of the bodies showing signs that they had been beaten and that medical care was delayed.  Kateryna Lykhohliad, a reporter with Ukrainian media outlet Babel, said the true figure was likely higher.  Her investigation revealed what appeared to be a systematic mistreatment of Ukrainian troops by their supposed brothers-in-arms, who allegedly keep them in prisoner-of-war-style camps surrounded by mines and guards with automatic weapons.  Despite bodies showing clear signs of abuse, deaths are normally listed as 'pneumonia' or 'heart problems.' Babel reported that members of Skelya, an assault unit, regularly torture and beat other members to death.  A witness told the outlet that high-ranking members often referred to new recruits as 'disposables.' They are also allegedly made to fight each other for the entertainment of others.  Many of the men mobilised by Skelya are said to include heroin addicts, as well as people with serious illnesses including HIV, tuberculosis and hepatitis C.  Addicts are often denied much-needed methadone, while sick soldiers are routinely deprived of their medicines.  Conscientious objectors are often tied to a wooden post in a dugout.   Oleksandr Semenov, a Ukrainian soldier who survived his time in Skelya, was seen in a recent video lifting his shirt to show doctors a bloody gash on his side.  Ukrainian soldier Oleksandr Semenov (pictured) suffered serious injuries while fighting for Skelya He died just a few days after the video was taken and shared widely  The 425th Separate Assault Regiment has been accused of seriously abusing its recruits He said: 'They beat you up, tie you to a quad bike and start dragging you along the ground.' Semenov said he knew of at least nine cases in just four days where soldiers had been driven to take their own lives. In one horrific case, a soldier - named as Maksym Skipa - took his own life after he was beaten so badly his face turned 'black and blue.' Semenov said he retrieved the man's lifeless body.  Within days of Semenov's video being recorded, he had passed away. The official cause of death was listed as pneumonia.  Another suspicious death reported by Babel was that of Dmytro Koval, who died just 15 days after he was mobilised to the unit.  His wife Lilia said he was so badly beaten that she did not recognise his body.  A soldier in the unit said that Koval has refused to serve on religious grounds: 'They hit him on the head a lot. They grabbed him by the neck and threw him, then lifted him up and threw him again. They kicked him, punched him.' The soldier's cause of death was officially listed as cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle. Arkadiy, a resident of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, told the Times that he had been forced into Skelya, despite being exempt from military service on medical grounds and because he is a key worker.  He said he was grabbed by masked draft officers near his home. When he resisted, he was kneed in the head, knocking out several of his teeth.  Arkadiy said he was then taken to a training camp in a forest in the Sumy region, in Ukraine's north.  He said: 'It’s like being a prisoner. The perimeter is mined and there are drones overhead. Even when you go to the latrine, a guard armed with an automatic weapons escorts you there.' Criminal investigations have been launched into the unit, following Babel's report Semenov said: 'They beat you up, tie you to a quad bike and start dragging you along the ground'  When he and a friend tried to escape, he said guards opened fire at him, hitting him in the arm and leg: 'I thought it was the end for me.'  But somehow he managed to escape, spending hours traipsing through forests and swamps while seriously injured. He remains in hiding, but his friend wasn't so lucky.  Instead, this friend was recaptured, beaten and thrown into a pit for three weeks.  Following the publication of Babel's investigation, the state said it was looking into the allegations.  Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraine's commander-in-chief, described the claims as 'shameful', adding that criminal cases have now been opened.  So far, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has not commented on the matter.  The comments below have not been moderated. 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