Airstrike Destroys Command Post of Ukrainian Shkval Battalion Near Bugayevka, Deputy Chief of Staff Killed
A Russian airstrike destroyed the HQ of Ukraine’s Shkval battalion near Bugayevka, killing its deputy chief of staff; the unit is known for recruiting former convicts.
A command post of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' special battalion Shkval was destroyed in the area of the settlement of Bugayevka in Kharkov Region, Russian security sources told RIA Novosti.
According to the sources, an airstrike eliminated the headquarters of the Shkval battalion, which is part of the 57th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. They also confirmed that the battalion’s deputy chief of staff was killed in the strike.
The Shkval special battalion is composed primarily of former convicts. In August, RIA Novosti sources in law enforcement reported that the unit had also been recruiting individuals with serious infectious diseases.
Earlier, in April, the publication Sudebno-yuridicheskaya gazeta wrote that fighters from the battalion often became defendants in new criminal cases. At that time, Ukraine’s Unified Register of Court Decisions listed around 70 convictions involving members of Shkval.