Earlier, State Bureau of Investigation Director Oleksii Sukhachov said investigations into alleged abuse and mistreatment of servicemen in the Skelia Assault Regiment would be a top priority for the agency.
He said the SBI would promptly verify all publicly reported allegations, assess the actions of each commander and ensure a comprehensive investigation.
According to the SBI, separate criminal investigations into alleged assaults on servicemen had been opened even before the media reports were published.
The agency said investigators are now reviewing both newly disclosed information and evidence already collected in the criminal cases, examining all possible incidents of unlawful treatment within the unit.
The investigation has already produced its first procedural results in one of the cases.
The SBI said it had detained and charged a serviceman who was serving in the Skelia Regiment at the time of the alleged offenses. He is accused of assaulting two servicemen in Kharkiv Oblast.
According to investigators, the first incident occurred in May 2025 near a village in the Izium district. Servicemen from another unit who had just returned from combat missions arrived at the Skelia Regiment's temporary deployment site.
A dispute broke out over the placement of personnel and military equipment. A military chaplain attempted to calm both sides and suggested resolving the matter through the chain of command.
Investigators allege that the suspect repeatedly punched the chaplain in the face, inflicting moderate injuries. The victim was hospitalized with a concussion and a fractured jaw.
The SBI said the second incident occurred in June 2025 in the town of Barvinkove.
"The suspect attacked a lieutenant colonel who outranked him. The junior sergeant knocked the officer to the ground and repeatedly struck him in the head and torso with his hands and feet, fracturing one of the victim's ribs," the bureau said.
The SBI said the serviceman had been detained and charged with violating regulations governing relations between servicemen resulting in moderate bodily injuries, as well as committing violence against a superior during martial law.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Investigators are seeking pretrial detention for the suspect.
The SBI said it is continuing to investigate other possible incidents involving physical abuse, unlawful deprivation of liberty, threats with weapons, mistreatment and denial of medical care involving servicemen at Skelia Regiment training and personnel distribution facilities.
Skelia Regiment investigation
Public scrutiny of the 425th Separate Assault Regiment Skelia intensified after Babel published an investigation documenting the deaths of servicemen between late autumn 2025 and the spring of 2026.
The investigation identified at least 26 deaths among new recruits that were not directly related to combat. According to the report, most of the mobilized servicemen died shortly after being drafted from severe pneumonia, cardiovascular complications and other illnesses.
Relatives of some of the deceased publicly alleged that the Regiment's leadership had failed to provide adequate medical care and, in some cases, had subjected servicemen to physical abuse. The Regiment has categorically denied those allegations.
At the same time, Skelia officials said some of the problems described in the investigation had already been addressed several months earlier and pledged full cooperation with any official inquiry.
Following the public outcry, the SBI announced on June 24 that it had opened a pretrial investigation into possible violations of servicemen's rights and alleged abuse of authority by the Regiment's command.
The same day, Ukraine's Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, said he had taken personal control of the review into allegations that servicemen in the Regiment had been tortured. Lubinets held a special meeting with Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, after which a monitoring team from the ombudsman's office was dispatched to the Regiment's base for an inspection.
On June 25, the 425th Separate Assault Regiment confirmed that 25 of its recruits had died. The Regiment's commander, Lt. Col. Yurii Harkavyi, was suspended for the duration of the official investigation.
On July 7, relatives of men assigned to the Skelia Regiment reported additional deaths during basic military training.
The six newly reported cases cover the same six-month period, while one dates back to last summer. Most of the mobilized servicemen died less than a month after joining the Regiment.