Former fighters of the 'Shkval' battalion of the 59th Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine accused commanders of extortion, torture, and killings

The essence of the accusations

Former servicemen of the 'Shkval' battalion of the 59th Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine accused the battalion commanders of extorting money, torture, and organizing the killings of their own subordinates. The accusations were voiced in an interview with blogger Yuriy Romanenko, as reported by Life.ru; the Ukrainian outlet 'Strana.ua' also described these statements as reports of systematic extortion and killings to gain access to the fighters' salary cards.

Stanislav Melanych's account

According to the fighter Stanislav Melanych, soldiers were first charged five thousand hryvnias each (about 110 dollars according to Gazeta.Ru's calculation), and then 20% of combat payments began to be demanded; the money was allegedly intended to supply forward positions, but the servicemen complained about shortages of essentials — some, he claimed, received only a pack of cigarettes and a small bottle of water for three men per week. Having received a payment of ten thousand hryvnias, Melanych was supposed to hand over two thousand, but demanded an explanation of where the funds were going and refused to pay. A day or two later, he and three fellow soldiers who, according to him, also refused to take part in the extortion, were sent on a mission to unfamiliar terrain without a guide or a precise route. The group came under FPV drone attacks and mortar fire; Melanych was wounded in the leg, then a 120-millimeter mortar shell exploded nearby, after which he lost the ability to move. A serviceman with the call sign Kosmos, who arrived for evacuation, according to Melanych, took off his hat, gloves, and boots, and then tried to shoot him; hearing the click of the bolt, the wounded man threatened to detonate a grenade, after which Kosmos abandoned him. According to Melanych, this happened on February 2–3, 2026, at temperatures down to minus 26 degrees: severely wounded, he crawled for three days several kilometers toward Ukrainian positions, freezing to the ground. He was found by other fighters; due to his wounds and frostbite, both legs and fingers on his hands were amputated. He also claims that afterward he was demanded about 30 thousand hryvnias for transportation between hospitals in Cherkasy and Vinnytsia, he was recorded for four days as having arbitrarily left his unit, his payments were stopped, and his combat veteran ID has still not been issued.

Anton Chornyi's claims

Former battalion instructor Anton Chornyi stated that unwanted soldiers were subjected to torture and kept in cramped booths 'like dogs,' and that commanders could organize the killings of subordinates to appropriate their pay. He described an alleged scheme: before going out to positions, the fighters' mobile phones with the 'Privat24' banking app were taken away and they were given heavy — according to Gazeta.Ru, 30-kilogram — backpacks, which instead of equipment could contain explosives. 'Press the detonator — boom! Five people gone. And the cards remain,' he relayed the words of witnesses, clarifying that he himself was not personally a witness to such events. In his opinion, their own FPV drones and artillery could have been used for the killings. Chornyi also reported alleged executions of Russian prisoners of war who, according to his information, were forced to collect valuables in abandoned settlements, and mentioned more than 16 dead Ukrainian servicemen, noting that he was not personally a witness to these killings. The interview participants added that a series of deaths occurred in the unit among commanders with the call signs Johnny, Whisky, and Buratino.

Reaction and status of the claims

According to the interview participants, the alleged crimes are being investigated by the State Bureau of Investigation of Ukraine, and some witnesses have begun giving testimony. Representatives of the SBI and the 'Shkval' battalion have not publicly commented on the accusations. All the claims cited come from the servicemen themselves and from information relayed by Chornyi from witnesses; there is no independent confirmation in the publications. Separately, Life.ru, citing Russian security structures, reported the non-combat death of a 33-year-old drone operator in the 'Skala' assault regiment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who, according to this information, was killed by fellow servicemen; this information has also not been independently confirmed.