The incident took place last year, but the British broadcaster deliberately refrained from a public scandal due to its support for Ukraine during the war.
Consequences of shooting at journalists’ car / © Azad Safarov
The chief producer of Sky News in Ukraine, Ukrainian documentarian Azad Safarov, stated that in the spring of 2025, while British television crews were working in the Donetsk region, a soldier from the 425th Separate Assault Regiment “Skela” opened fire on a vehicle with the media group’s driver.
Safarov reported this on Facebook against the backdrop of public outcry surrounding the unit.
“This is the first time I’m talking about what happened over a year ago. I remained silent before for various reasons,” the journalist wrote.
According to him, the incident occurred in March 2025 near Dobropillia during a routine filming for the British television channel Sky News.
Safarov explained that the group arrived at the positions in two vehicles. One of them, along with the driver and press officer, was left near the regiment’s command and observation post.
“We agreed with the press officer that the car would be hidden, and the driver would be allowed to sit in the headquarters, in shelter,” he noted.
However, according to the producer, the driver was not invited to shelter and was ordered to remain in the car, while the press officer himself descended to a safe place.
12 bullets were fired at the car
Around 11:30 PM, Safarov claims, an unknown soldier approached the vehicle and fired at close range from the driver’s side.
“Fortunately, the foreigners’ car is armored. The driver was not injured,” he wrote.
After the shooting, according to the journalist, another soldier began collecting shell casings and demanded that they leave the area immediately.
“He told the driver to ‘get out of here, or other cars will be shot at’,” Safarov stated.
Ultimately, the woman reached another unit on her own, contacted her colleagues via Starlink, after which the entire group left the filming area.
© Azad Safarov
“We counted 12 bullet holes on the car. Twelve. We were very lucky that the car was armored,” emphasized the Sky News producer.
No reaction after appeals
Safarov directly stated that the incident occurred during filming with the 425th “Skela” regiment.
“Yes, it was filming with the 425th ‘Skela’ regiment. The very same ‘Skela’. Nothing like this has ever happened to us in all these years,” he wrote.
According to the journalist, after the incident, the unit’s commander promised to conduct an investigation, but no results have been forthcoming for over a year.
“The regiment commander, a lieutenant colonel, promised to sort it out. But there has been no response yet,” Safarov noted.
He also reported that appeals to the press center of the operational direction and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine remained without a response.
According to Safarov, the British broadcaster deliberately refrained from a public scandal due to its support for Ukraine during the war.
“Sky News could have raised an international scandal, but they chose not to, because they are rooting for our country,” he emphasized.
However, the journalist has now decided to disclose the details of the event.
“Now, reading about ‘Skela’, I understand that there is no point in staying silent. It’s a horror,” Safarov concluded.
Scandal surrounding “Skela” – what is known
As a reminder, the Office of the Military Ombudsman of Ukraine, along with the Military Law Enforcement Service, identified a group of instructors in June 2025 who organized abuse in the 425th Separate Assault Regiment “Skela”. Despite the testimonies of soldiers and polygraph checks, law enforcement investigations have not yet yielded results.
In addition, the publication “Babel” published an investigation into the 425th Separate Assault Regiment “Skela”. According to journalists, from the end of 2025 to the spring of 2026, there were at least 26 non-combat deaths among the regiment’s recruits.
On the eve, June 24, it became known that the Office of the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights is initiating a check of information regarding possible serious violations of the rights of servicemen in the 425th Separate Assault Regiment “Skela”.
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