Todesfälle im 425. Regiment „Skelya“. Fünf Soldaten aus der Region Iwano-Frankiwsk starben, ohne auch nur zwei Wochen abzusitzen

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Ulyana Kondratieva learned that her brother Yaroslav Mokrii had served in “Skelya” from a death notification. He did not stay long in the 425th Assault Regiment — he died after two weeks.

“Skelya” serviceman Vasyl Tsiurko lived even less after mobilization — nine days. Forensic experts recorded, among other things, broken ribs, bruises, abrasions, and blunt-force wounds on his body. The serviceman’s sister Tetiana Stefaniuk contacted “Skelya” and every possible law enforcement agency to find out under what circumstances her brother died. Police opened a case; the regiment did not respond.

The story of “Skelya” serviceman Vasyl Voichuk is similar — he died 11 days after mobilization. Volodymyr Voichuk was informed of his brother’s death almost a week later.

“Skelya” serviceman Vitalii Karat died in a hospital in Dnipro. His sister Olesia Piskunova managed to see her brother alive. He told her he was beaten constantly. Relatives appealed to law enforcement agencies to investigate Vitalii’s death.

At least five servicemen of the 425th Separate Assault Regiment “Skelya” from the Ivano-Frankivsk region — Vasyl Voichuk, Vasyl Tsiurko, Yaroslav Mokrii, Petro Danyltsiv, and Vitalii Karat — died in March 2026. Official causes of death listed in certificates were lung and heart diseases.

In this report, Suspilne correspondents gathered comments from all sides: relatives of the deceased servicemen, the Medical Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Office of the Military Ombudsman, police, the military prosecutor’s office in Dnipro, and “Skelya” itself, to determine what actually happened to the servicemen.

**Vasyl Tsiurko**

Vasyl Tsiurko died nine days after he was mobilized in the town of Yaremche in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. The serviceman’s sister, Tetiana Stefaniuk, said her brother was taken on the evening of February 24, 2026. He had no grounds for deferment.

“He had no phone or documents with him, so we did not know where they had taken him. The next day I started searching. By evening I found him at the TCC in Nadvirna,” Tetiana Stefaniuk recalls.

Vasyl never contacted his sister. A few days later the woman learned that her brother was in Dnipro serving in “Skelya.”

“We were told he had been beaten, was in bad condition, and that my brother needed help. We sent him clothes and a phone,” says Tetiana Stefaniuk.

Two days later the woman called that phone. Instead of her brother, another man answered.

“He said: ‘You can stop calling because he’ll still be in solitary confinement for two more days.’ As I understand it, he was given some punishment for something,” Tetiana Stefaniuk says.

This conversation took place on March 8, and on March 10 the family received news that Vasyl had died six days earlier.

“How were they handing over the package on March 8 if my brother had already been dead, and they said he still had two days in solitary confinement? Before that I repeatedly called the unit, said his sister was searching for him, sent his photo and information on WhatsApp. There was no communication, nobody answered me, nobody picked up the phone,” says Tetiana Stefaniuk.

After learning of her brother’s death, the woman contacted police.

“The investigator introduced himself: ‘I’m so-and-so, I responded to the body.’ I told him I had information that my brother had been beaten. He replied: ‘I do not have such information. I have information that he accompanied a stabilization brigade transporting wounded soldiers. He felt ill. They took him to hospital, where he died,’” Tetiana Stefaniuk says.

The causes of death listed in the medical certificate were acute cardiovascular failure and atherosclerotic heart disease. The forensic expert also diagnosed fatty hepatosis, broken ribs, bruises, abrasions, and blunt-force injuries.

“There are injuries to his legs, his face was badly damaged, and there were blunt-force wounds all over the body. The body was in horrific condition: beaten, tortured, brutalized. Of course, in that condition my brother could not have accompanied any brigade, because he could not breathe — his ribs were broken, everything was broken. And in the certificate, the place of death is not a hospital, not the unit. It’s unclear where and how it happened. That’s what alarmed us. Because they told us he died in hospital,” says Tetiana Stefaniuk.

The woman contacted the State Bureau of Investigation, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, and the military ombudsman. Her appeals were forwarded to the Office of the Prosecutor General. She also called and wrote to “Skelya” on WhatsApp, but received no reply.

Vasyl Tsiurko’s father and mother sent letters to the police in Dnipropetrovsk region demanding recognition as victims in the criminal proceedings regarding their son’s death. Several days later the letters were returned, so they sent their appeals by email.

In response to an information request sent by Suspilne to police in Dnipropetrovsk region, investigator Maksym Sidash stated that law enforcement had not received any statements or reports from the Tsiurko family.

He also stated that the Synelnykove district police department is investigating Vasyl Tsiurko’s death as murder. Proceedings were opened under Part 1 of Article 115 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

In a response from the Dnipropetrovsk Specialized Defense Prosecutor’s Office, they confirmed procedural oversight of the case, but provided no further details regarding the circumstances of the serviceman’s death.

“I want there to be no more of these deaths. As I understand, my brother is not the first, but I hope he will be the last. There should be some logical conclusion, humane treatment of these people. If there is some violation, there is the Military Law Enforcement Service, not torture and killing like in our case. Because he was clearly tortured and killed,” concludes Tetiana Stefaniuk, sister of the deceased serviceman.

The family buried Vasyl Tsiurko. He was 41.

**Yaroslav Mokrii**

Ulyana Kondratieva buried her brother Yaroslav Mokrii — a “Skelya” serviceman — on March 16. He joined the assault regiment at the end of February 2026. Less than two weeks later he died in the unit.

The woman says her brother had poor health.

“He had suffered from tuberculosis for many years. He had major lung problems. My brother previously had disability status. The disease was cured. He regularly saw doctors, underwent examinations, and monitored his condition,” says Ulyana Kondratieva.

From December 2025, when Yaroslav was mobilized, he remained in the rear for more than two months, serving at the TCC, and contracted pneumonia.

“On February 26 he was summoned one last time to the TCC in Sniatyn. When my brother went there, they immediately switched off his phone. I never heard from him again,” continues Ulyana Kondratieva.

On March 3 Yaroslav Mokrii called her husband on Viber from an unknown number.

“The conversation was very short, as if someone was standing next to him. He only said not to worry, that they were feeding him. And then a few days later he was already dead,” says Ulyana Kondratieva.

Yaroslav Mokrii died on March 12, 2026, in a vehicle on the way to a hospital in the Novoukrainskyi district of Kirovohrad region. The cause of death listed in the forensic certificate issued to relatives was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Ulyana learned her brother had served in “Skelya” from the death notification.

“They called from the Zabolotiv settlement council and said he had died. They later brought us the notification. What can I say? Somehow this system is built incorrectly. They take sick people, fail to provide timely assistance, and these poor people die. It was not war that killed him, but the fact that every person in their place committed violations,” says Ulyana Kondratieva.

Yaroslav Mokrii was 53.

This is heartbreaking. I hope the families are able to get justice and the perpetrators aren’t allowed to do anything like this again. Slava Ukraine