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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
The State Bureau of Investigation knew about beatings, torture and even the death of servicemen in the Skelia regiment at least since March. But instead of investigating, it mostly just forwarded the complaints onward.
The Center for Civil Liberties received responses from deputies to their inquiries from the Office of the Military Ombudsman. They confirm: from March to June 2026 the SBI received at least 8 reports of possible crimes against servicemembers.
Specifically, the reports concerned:
🔹 beatings;
🔹 unlawful deprivation of liberty and torture;
🔹 threats with firearms and combat grenades;
🔹 failure to provide medical care after beatings, which led to a serviceman’s death.
But in 6 of 8 cases the SBI did not open an investigation. The bureau replied that it did not see sufficient grounds to enter the information into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations and forwarded the materials to the Military Law Enforcement Service.
One such case was a complaint from the sister of a serviceman who, she said, was beaten and then not given appropriate medical care. The man died in the hospital. Even after that report the SBI did not open proceedings.
The situation changed only after public disclosure. On 23 June, Babel published an investigation into alleged torture and violence in Skelia. After that the SBI entered the information into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations and began an investigation.
In other words, information about possible serious crimes had been with law enforcement for months. But it took journalists’ publication to trigger a real investigation.
When the SBI forwards complaints instead of investigating the facts they contain, it fails its primary mission. And our servicemembers and their families pay for that ineffectiveness with their health and lives.
This story is another argument for why reform of the SBI is needed not for polished reports or to meet formal requirements.
People’s safety—those the state is obliged to protect—literally depends on the effectiveness of this body.
Telegram publication
