Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Alexander Syrsky has called the situation around the 425th Separate Assault Regiment «Skala» a disgrace for the country’s military. The scandal centers on allegations that the regiment’s command allowed systematic torture and abuse of new recruits.

Speaking in an interview with the TSN television channel, Syrsky said the very existence of such a case was shameful for the armed forces of a country at war. He stressed that a serviceman should not die in the rear, but should be trained to defend his country.

At the same time, Syrsky claimed that the review of reports about torture in the unit had allegedly begun before the first journalistic investigation into events inside the regiment was published.

The first reports of brutal treatment of recruits in the Ukrainian assault regiment «Skala» began appearing on June 23. Ukrainian journalists reported 26 non-combat deaths that had occurred over the past six months in the unit’s training centers. Many of those who died, according to the reports, had served in the regiment for less than a month.

Relatives of mobilized soldiers were officially told that the deaths had been caused by pneumonia, cardiovascular diseases and other illnesses.