Cherednik Anton Vladimirovich (Cherednik Anton Volodimirovich)

In the village of Mirny in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, on April 4, 2022, during the offensive of Russian forces and heavy fighting, nearly three hundred fighters from the 501st separate battalion of the 36th separate brigade of the Marine Corps of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were taken prisoner. Among them was Anton Cherednik, a section commander in military unit A-1965 and senior sergeant. Anton Cherendik was charged with violent seizure of power in the "DPR" and undergoing training for terrorist activities two days after his detention, on April 6. In addition, he was accused of cruel treatment of civilians and murder on the grounds of national hatred. The case was initially opened under articles of the "DPR" Criminal Code. But after the illegal referendum on the annexation of the Donetsk region and other occupied territories of Ukraine, the charges were reclassified in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation. According to the Russian investigation, on 27 March 2022, Cherednik was patrolling the area together with the grenadier of the second platoon, Anton Baydrakov. At the intersection of Blinova and Clara Zetkin streets, they stopped two men for inspection - local residents Alexander Piskunov and Sergey Potseluiev. Cherednik and Baydrakov fired into the air and ordered the men to lie on the ground. The Mariupol residents were searched, questioned, and then Cherendnik demanded that Piskunov say the word "palyanitsa. When he was unable to do so, Cherednik shot him twice with an assault rifle. Before the trial, he was in the Donetsk pre-trial detention center, during the court investigation he was transferred to the Rostov-on-Don pre-trial detention center. In court, it was not announced on whose statement the criminal case was initiated, how Russian law enforcement found Piskunov's grave and all witnesses to his death. In addition to witness testimony, three propaganda videos of Cherendnik's interrogations were presented as evidence in court, including the one published by the Investigative Committee itself. 8 November 2023, the Southern Military Court found Anton Cherednik guilty and sentenced him to 19 years in a strict regime penal colony, with the first 3 years to be served in prison. On June 24, 2025, the Appellate Military Court left the sentence unchanged.