Report from Ukraine by Dmitri Kovalevich, re-published here in The Multiplural World, July 20, 2026
Notwithstanding all the Ukrainian bravado at the July 7-8 NATO summit meeting in Ankara, Turkey, many European members of NATO are declaring that they have reached the limits of their capabilities to provide military assistance
(Dmitri Kovalevich is the special correspondent in Ukraine for Al Mayadeen English, where this report first appeared on July 17, 2026. All of his reports from Ukraine dating back to April 2022 are archived here.)
Political attention in Ukraine in July has been focused heavily on the NATO summit, which took place in Ankara, Turkey, on July 7 and 8. Ukraine’s governing regime and wealthy capitalists hoped the meeting would secure even more money and weapons for them.
On the eve of the summit, the Kiev regime sought to impress the US. President Donald Trump with a show of military strikes against oil refineries, power plants, and fuel trucks in Russia. It was a show to affirm that Kiev sill ‘holds some cards,’ with the regime arguing that pressure to settle the war should be applied not to it but to the government in Moscow.
European leaders pressed Zelensky toward such a stance at the meeting of G7 country leaders in France in mid-June. They are each struggling to maintain domestic support for their unpopular proxy war in Ukraine, reported the New York Post on July 7. The report cites several Ukrainian regime figures urging Trump and European leaders to view Ukraine as a strategic asset rather than a burden.
Trump’s and Zelensky’s war escalations seeking ‘peace’
Ukraine is not a member of the NATO military alliance. What’s more, a number of Western leaders, including Donald Trump, have acknowledged that Ukraine does not meet NATO’s conditions for membership in the military alliance. But that doesn’t stop regime head Volodymyr Zelensky from acting according to the dilemma described in an old Russian proverb saying, “You push him out the door and he climbs back in through the window.”
Zelensky was not invited to attend the NATO leaders’ meeting, but he was invited to the official dinner and joined a group photo.
In Ankara, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha (since Sept 2024) assured his regime’s Western backers that Ukraine is capable of significantly enhancing NATO’s military capabilities. He was touting the armed and mobilized men in the Ukrainian Armed Forces as ready to join in NATO’s future imperialist wars.
Despite all the Ukrainian bravado at the NATO summit, however, many European members of NATO, one after another, are declaring that they have reached the limits of their capabilities to provide military assistance. These include Bulgaria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. Earlier, the Dutch war minister stated that his country has reached the limit of its capacity to provide direct military aid to Ukraine, specifically ‘Patriot’ missile interceptor units.
Ukrainian political analyst Mikhail Chaplyga wrote on Telegram on July 8 that the withdrawal from weapons supply is happening in part because Germany has not reimbursed the full costs as it had promised. He added that a lot of military “junk” has been gathered and sent to Ukraine by Germany at inflated prices, making the German government look very ‘generous’ but leaving Ukraine ill-defended.
Legislator Alexander Dubinsky, in prison since November 2023 for ‘treason’, wrote on Telegram on July 6 that Zelensky pinned too much hope on the NATO summit. Going into the meeting, the Zelensky-led regime hoped that the summit would approve an additional 70 billion euros in military funding. But, he explained, “Instead of 70 billion euros (a figure that included an already-approved 40 billion euros in EU assistance), the actual amount of additional support may turn out to be only 10–12 billion euros.”
Dubinsky stressed that even this reduced funding amount will not reach Ukraine directly but will pay for weapons produced in the EU and G7 countries. “This will likely result in deliveries no sooner than next year,” Dubinsky wrote. He reminded his readers that Poland and Italy have already stated they cannot at this time extend their military support into 2027.
Notwithstanding all the above, Trump met with Zelensky in Ankara, promising him licenses to manufacture Patriot missiles and stating that Ukrainian strikes against Russian oil refineries “are an escalation that could help end the war.” (The Patriot missile system is being exposed by many analysts as a failing system with low shoot-down rates.)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio joined Trump on July 8 in openly acknowledging that the US government is helping Ukraine to launch military strikes deep into Russia in the name of pressuring Moscow into ending the war (on the terms of Western imperialism, of course).
State terrorism
On the eve of the NATO summit, a new and massive scandal erupted in Ukraine, this one revealing state-sponsored terrorism. An assassination attempt was made against Ukrainian oligarch Vadim Yermolaev in Monaco on June 29. In Ukraine, he is believed to be the owner of fraudulent call centers and gambling businesses (casinos). At the same time, he has been named as one of the sponsors of Valery Zaluzhny, the former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) and currently Ukraine’s ambassador to London. A number of British and American media outlets are touting Zaluzhny as the president to replace Zelensky and continue the proxy war against Russia.
Commenting on the latest scandal, the UK Guardian newspaper voiced fears that the scandal could cost Kiev dearly in political terms, especially at a time when Zelenskyy was attending the NATO summit seeking further military support from the West. Predictably, Western leaders quickly swept this issue under the rug.
Zelensky imposed personal sanctions against Yermolayev in late 2023, extended by ten years in 2024. Yermolayev intended to speak before the European Parliament about corruption within Zelensky’s administration, evidently prompting the assassination attempt against him. A bag containing explosives was left by a woman who was soon identified and placed on Interpol’s wanted list. She managed to return to Ukraine, where she was found dead two days later, buried in a wooded area. An employee of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate was arrested in connection with the case and has confessed to killing the would-be female assassin.
French media reported that the leading theory regarding those who ordered the assassination falls on the SBU, Ukraine’s secret police. However, even a scandal involving the attempted murder between rival Ukrainian elites in a Western country does not prevent Western leaders from allocating more and more billions of dollars and euros to support the Zelenskyy regime. For his part, the unelected Zelensky (his five-year electoral mandate expired in April 2025) has once again confirmed that no national election in the country is foreseen.
Use of torture to force Ukrainian soldiers to fight
What concerns ordinary Ukrainians most right now is what is happening within the Armed Forces of Ukraine, where men continue to be conscripted on a daily basis. Although torture and beatings by military recruiters have become common knowledge, what is happening inside military units has rarely been made public, citing military secrecy. Questions have arisen in the public domain only because too many Ukrainian servicemen were seen to be dying, with those deaths being far from the front lines.
Once again, the infamous 425th Assault Regiment (‘Skala’–The Rock)—said to be the personal project of Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi—has found itself at the center of scandal. Soldiers unlucky enough to end up in this regiment usually do not survive for long, as the regiment is constantly used for bloody storming actions during which personnel suffer very heavy casualties. In total, the unit comprises some 13,000 personnel.
According to an investigation by journalists from the online publication Babel, 26 deaths have been recorded in ‘Skala’ over the past six months… though not on the battlefield. These deaths are a result of beatings of recruits and exacerbation of chronic illnesses carried by many. Following the first publication of the investigation into deaths and torture in the regiment, at least seven more deaths of conscripts have come to light, reports Babel.
All the deaths occurred within one month of the victims being conscripted and mobilized. Investigations reveal that the ‘Skala’ regiment recruits seriously ill people, alcoholics, and drug addicts, and it enforces internal conditions akin to a concentration camp. Relatives of the deceased claim that the bodies have shown signs of beatings.
Journalists from Babel have interviewed 30 witnesses, including relatives of the conscripts, and about 10 service members who either escaped from the regiment or are still serving there. All of them describe brutal abuse of new recruits, including beatings, confinement in punishment cells, and being tied up with duct tape and handcuffs. Witnesses claim that the areas around the ‘Skala’ camps are mined, causing some deaths to conscripts seeking to escape. In addition, recruits are routinely escorted at gunpoint, and those attempting escape are fired upon.
One of those interviewed by Babel is Alexander Semenov, who deserted from this regiment and agreed to speak out. He was interviewed in January 2026, but the journalist’s investigation was not published until late June. According to him, while he was at ‘Skala’, he was taunted, beaten, and tied to the back of an all-terrain vehicle and dragged along the ground. He also testified that he witnessed at least nine suicides among conscripts. In addition to head wounds and bruises all over his body, doctors observed that Semenov had suffered broken fingers and bore marks from handcuffs on his wrists.
Semenov showed journalists the wounds on his body that were inflicted during torture and abuse. He expressed his willingness to file a report with law enforcement officers and provide testimony. The video broadcast by Babel was recorded on January 23, 2026; a few days later, Semenov suddenly died in the hospital.
A doctor at the hospital where Semenov died recounts, in his own words, the deaths and suicides that are common in this military unit. “Skipa Maxim—he hanged himself with a bulletproof vest. I personally had to untie the cord. Then a guy climbed into a toilet tank and suffocated himself. Then two people at the shooting range each fired a single round into their heads. In short, nine people committed suicide in four days,” said the doctor, citing Semenov.
The abuse of those mobilized in ‘Skala’ begins right at the mobilization center, nicknamed ’The Chicken Coop’. It is a long building on the outskirts of a village that has been converted into barracks, where from one to two thousand people are held at a time. The name of the village is unknown, considered to be a ‘military secret’.
“They brought us there, herded us out like we were in a funnel, stripped us down to our underwear, searched us, and forced us to take off our underwear and do squats,” Ukrainian soldier Oleksandr Zhikin told Babel, describing ‘The Chicken Coop’.
He also said that the armed guards at the camp are called ‘vertukhai’, a slang word for prison guards. Even when going to the bathroom or the mess hall, the conscripts are escorted like prisoners of war at gunpoint and kicked along the way. After an escape attempt, Zhikin and a fellow soldier were completely wrapped in duct tape, thrown onto the concrete floor, and placed under guard. “And for a week, we basically urinated right where we were. They brought us food, but I didn’t eat or drink much because I knew I couldn’t use the toilet,” the soldier testified.
After a second escape attempt, the two were caught again, after which they had to live—and even sleep while chained together with handcuffs.
For any infractions, men are sent to a detention cell holding several people at once, including alcoholics and drug addicts experiencing withdrawal. To calm the ‘unruly’ ones, they are sprayed with gas irritants. Everyone in the cell breathes in the gas.
Recently, according to a journalistic investigation, military recruiters and representatives of the ‘Skala’ regiment abducted 160 drug addicts who had come to a methadone distribution center in the small town of Kropyvnytskyi (Kirovohrad) in central Ukraine. One can only imagine what happens when a military unit composed of many drug-addicted soldiers acts when handed weapons while suffering addiction withdrawal. As Babel reports, the recruits in such a military unit are considered “disposable”, implying that their time in service will be short with little expectation of survival.
In March of 2025, a vehicle belonging to British broadcaster Sky News was fired upon at point-blank range from the grounds of ‘Skala’. “Toward nightfall, someone approached the female driver and fired point-blank at the car from the driver’s side. The car was armored, and no one was injured.” Journalist Azad Safarov stated that Sky News could have made a big deal out of it but chose not to because it is supporting “our country”, reported the witness. Simply put, a large British media outlet chose not to report a serious attack against one of its own journalists so as not to tarnish the Zelensky regime’s image.
An army of slaves
The Ukrainian online publication Strana reported on June 24 that atrocities and torture are widespread not only in ‘Skala’. They most often occur in the new assault regiments created by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to military sources, beatings and humiliation usually occur during the ‘holding’ phase for new recruits to the AFU. These are special camps intended to house those who have already been conscripted and mobilized.
AFU Captain Viktor K. told the publication, “Currently, 90 per cent of those who have been mobilized are completely unsuitable for combat duties. They are a large number of people with a host of health issues, many of whom are alcoholics and drug addicts. Only a small fraction is actually capable of serving. There are also those who feign illness. But for the medical units at the holding bases, anyone who complains of illness is considered a malingerer.”
According to the captain, despite guards and mined approaches to training bases, conscripted men are still fleeing en masse. Typically, two weeks into training, only 50 out of 100 conscripts remain.
According to a Ukrainian Defense Ministry official quoted by Strana, this is happening in almost every unit engaged in assault operations. “There have long since been no more volunteers or motivated people,” the official explains, justifying the abuse and torture of recruits by adding that the quality of new recruits is poor. He says no one wants to fight, discipline is non-existent, and many try to escape.
Former parliamentary Speaker Dmytro Razumkov emphasized in a July 1 comment on Telegram that mobilized Ukrainian servicemen are treated far worse than prisoners of war.
Legislator Anna Skorokhod stated from the parliamentary rostrum, as reported by Politnavigator on Telegram on July 3, that abuse of soldiers is widespread in many units of the Ukrainian army. “For days now, we’ve been watching the fallout involving the 425th ‘Skala’ Regiment. Everyone is acting shocked and saying, ‘That can’t be true!’ It feels like this is the first time they have heard about it! As if our only problem is with ‘Skala’. Have you forgotten about the 225th, 59th, 57th Regiments, the 10th Special Forces Brigade, and the 153rd, 82nd, 210th, 95th, 92nd, 47th, and 80th Brigades?! I could go on and on with this list,” the lawmaker said, listing the regiments and brigades of the AFU where similar scandals have occurred.
A foul spirit of slavery is rampant in the Ukrainian army, according to Lesya Ganza, a female soldier in the AFU, as reported on Telegram by Strana on June 27. She compares the current system within the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the pseudo-scientific Stanford Prison Experiment of 1971 in the United States, in which participants were assigned roles as either prisoners or guards. The experiment was ended prematurely after physical abuse by ‘guards’ soon became widespread.
According to Lesya Ganza, “The war has not cured the army’s virus of slavery; it has exacerbated it.”
Former Ukrainian serviceman Yevgeny Bekrenev has said that, overall, assault troops are a mechanism for creating a slave army that fights not for principles but on command. Such an army consists of slave owners, guards, and slaves.
Former advisor to the Office of the President of Ukraine, Alexei Arestovich, wrote on Telegram on June 24 that there is currently a wave of reports regarding murders and mass abuse at ‘Skala’, revealing the deplorable reality of what is happening in some units. But, according to him, this is not surprising, since “the ruling marauders have put the Constitution on hold, turning citizens into slaves with no rights.”
It is precisely such an army that Zelensky is selling to Western imperialism as being a ready and reliable force. Of note in this regard is a recent, laudatory report about Zelensky published by a major media outlet of imperialism, the Financial Times of Britain. Its report wrote that Zelensky “makes the case for liberal democracy without apology” and “is reminding the West of itself.” This is true: an army of slaves in Ukraine is truly a reminder of Western imperialism itself, not least its role over centuries in creating and expanding a global slave ‘trade’ of black-skinned people.
