Oleksii Bratushchak, head of the regiment's communications section, said this on the Butusov Plus program, Ukrinform reports.

"As of now, we are carrying out combat orders under the operational command of the Azov Corps. Not all of our units have yet been placed under the operational command of this corps," he said.

According to Bratushchak, this refers specifically to operational command, rather than the regiment becoming part of the Azov structure.

"We are not joining the Azov structure, but yes, there is definitely operational command. The Azov Corps will exercise operational command," the regiment's spokesperson said.

Bratushchak said that the dispersed Skelia units are currently being brought together to continue operations in a single area of the front.

Read also:Skelia regiment suspends recruitment due to General Staff’s audit

As reported earlier, on June 23, the Babel online news site released an investigation into the Skelia Assault Regiment. Journalists interviewed 30 witnesses, mostly relatives of conscripts serving in the regiment, as well as around ten of its servicemen who had either fled or were still serving there. The outlet said it had counted 26 deaths at the regiment's training centers over the previous six months and reported alleged cases of torture and abuse of trainees.

On June 24, the commander of the Skelia Regiment was suspended pending an investigation into possible misconduct toward servicemen, as reported by the media.

The Skelia Regiment confirmed some of the servicemen's deaths reported by the media.

Tetiana Sapian, communications advisor to the director of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), said that the SBI had previously opened criminal proceedings over alleged violence in the Skelia Regiment following complaints from relatives of affected servicemen.

The SBI said it had notified two servicemen from the regiment's medical company that they were suspected of wrongdoing.

Photo: Skelia