Babel reported violent threats by Mykola Kharkhan (call sign “Kyianyn”), a serviceman in the “Skelia” Assault Regiment No. 425 after the release of their news story about a series of deaths in the regiment.
In a video posted to Facebook on 25 June, Mykola Kharkhan called the Babel journalist who penned the news story a “whorenalist” and a “media hitman” on Russia’s payroll and referred to the news outlet itself as “Russian white collars”.
“Officially, what that whorenalist barfed out was 26 deaths from disease in Skelia. I’m reporting that out of the 26 people who died, 18 died in medical institutions. Not in Skelia,” Kharkhan said.
He added that the deaths should be investigated, but “no one is allowed to take Russian money and defame the most combat-ready units.”
He also referred to the police as “cyberpigs” and “cyberchekists” who have failed to defend the army’s honour.
“No, my kittens, I’m reporting: the money may be good today, but everyone involved will be puking it up later,” Kharkhan said.
The news outlet’s editor Hlib Husev told the Institute of Mass Information journalist Valentyna Troyan that the team viewed Kharkhan’s statements as threats.
He said they had not reported the threats to the police yet but planned to do so later that day. The team will also update their readers about any other negative reactions to the news story or threats.
During an online call with journalists, Oleksiy Bratushchak, the communications officer with the “Skelia” Assault Regiment No. 425, said that threats to journalists were unacceptable but servicemembers had the right to free speech.
Slidstvo.Info chief editor Anastasia Stanko asked Bratushchak how “Kyianyn’s” allegations that Babel worked for Russian money, should be held liable for it, and would have to “puke up” the money later should be perceived. She asked whether this was a threat, whether it could be considered his personal stance, and what the regiment’s position was.
Bratushchak replied that Harkhan was a blogger and could talk to his audience as he saw fit.
“Call sign ‘Kyianyn’, a blogger who joined us not so long ago, has his own audience he stays in contact with,” Bratushchak said.
He added that servicemembers were allowed to communicate with their audience to explain what was going on in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. He stressed that Kharkhan’s statements did not reflect the regiment’s official position.
“Are his words the official position? No. Moreover, the command, the representatives of our regiment present here, at this press conference, may disagree with what ‘Kyianyn’ or other bloggers in our regiment say. But this does not mean that a person has no right to express their opinions,” the spokesman said.
Bratushchak reiterated that threats to journalists were unacceptable: “When we discussed the response to Babel‘s news story, the commander and I clearly stated, and this was said at the meeting, that no action should be taken against the authors of this or any other investigation. Fighting journalists is not what we do.”
He added that he had not watched Kharkhan’s video as of the press conference happening. Anastasia Stanko asked whether ‘Kyianyn’ would be penalised for the threats. “Whether you like it or not, he is not just a servicemember, but a blogger as well, and freedom of speech has not been eradicated in our country. I will look into what exactly happened,” the spokesman replied.
Previously
On 23 June 2026, Babel released an investigation into the non-combat deaths of at least 26 recruits in the “Skelia” Assault Regiment No. 425 that occurred in late 2025 — spring 2026. The journalists discovered that most of the servicemembers died of pneumonia, cardiovascular and other diseases shortly after being drafted. Families of some of the deceased reported possible violence in the unit.
The Skelia Regiment said that the authors of the news story were making generalisations, reducing the unit’s history to one-off tragic instances. They claim that most of the deaths mentioned in the investigation occurred in hospitals or on the way to them and were related to the recruits’ health.
The regiment emphasised that they were not involved in the draft effort and said they were willing to work with law enforcement bodies and other authorities.
The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets reported that possible violations of servicemembers’ rights at Skelia were being verified.
The State Bureau of Investigation opened proceedings under Part 5 of Article 426-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (“Excess of authority or official powers by a military official, committed under martial law, which caused grave consequences”) based on Babel’s report.
On 25 June 2026, Azad Safarov, producer with the UK channel Sky News, reported that an unknown man fired at the channel’s car at close range in March 2025 as the crew was filming a news story about the Skelia unit. The crew’s driver was in the car at the moment of the shooting.