Chernyshenko Maksim Valerevich (Chernishenko Maksim Valeriyovich (Chernushenko))

Maxim Chernyshenko, a Ukrainian citizen and serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, was captured by Russian servicemen in the occupied Donetsk region no later than April 2022. Subsequently, a criminal case was initiated against Chernyshenko for cruel treatment of the civilian population and the use of prohibited methods of warfare in an armed conflict, attempted murder of two persons committed by an organized group, motivated by political and ideological hatred and enmity. According to the Russian investigation, in March 2022, Chernyshenko and his colleagues occupied combat positions on the territory of the Azovmash PJSC plant. While on a combat position, he discovered two unarmed men who were not participating in the armed conflict, crossing a bridge over the Kalchik River. Chernyshenko fired at least fifteen aimed shots from an assault rifle at them. Two men survived because they were able to leave the area of shelling and take cover in a safe place. 5 October 2023 at the latest, the Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic found Maksim Chernyshenko guilty and sentenced him to 25 years in a strict regime penal colony. On June 19, 2024, the First Appellate Court of General Jurisdiction upheld the verdict. Earlier, Chernyshenko was sentenced to imprisonment in yet another case for the murder of a civilian in Mariupol.