Ukrainian prisoner of war is on trial in Russia

This was reported by the Graty media outlet.

This is the first time that a trial of a captured Ukrainian soldier has been held in a Russian court. Previously, similar cases were considered in the so-called courts of the terrorist DPR and LPR.

Anton Cherednyk was accused of killing a resident of the Myrne village near Mariupol. According to the investigation, the soldier did it after the man could not say the word 'palianytsia'. The Ukrainian marine is accused in a Russian court of four articles at once: forcible seizure of power, cruel treatment of civilians, murder and training for terrorist activities under Article 205.

During the hearing on April 6, the court heard only the prosecution's position, without examining the evidence and testimony of Cherednyk himself.

According to the outlet, prosecutor Iryna Napalko repeated dozens of times during the hour-long hearing that everything Cherednyk did was aimed at "forcibly seizing power and changing the constitutional order of the 'DPR'."

The prosecution believes that Cherednyk killed the victim "against the backdrop of hatred towards representatives of the Russian nationality, supporters of the 'Russian world' and people who support the sovereignty of the 'Donetsk people's republic'."

The prosecutor also stated that Cherednyk "used methods" prohibited by the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in time of war, dated August 12, 1949, and Additional Protocol I, on attacks on the life and integrity of civilian populations, dated June 8, 1977.

Anton Cherednyk said he pleaded partially guilty to murder and was ready to testify in court on this charge. He did not admit any intention to seize power, nor did he admit that he had been trained to carry out the terrorist attack.

The lawyer assigned to him told the Russian portal Activatica.org that during the preliminary investigation, the Ukrainian soldier "pleaded guilty in full" and changed his position during the court hearing.

"In order to find out his final position on confession or non-confession, partial or full confession [of guilt], at his request, the court will have a meeting in the pre-trial detention center alone with the defendant, where he will finally explain his position," the lawyer said.

Anton Cherednyk was born in Dnipro and lived in Kryvyi Rih. He had no criminal record. In March 2016, he came to the Kryvyi Rih City Military Commissariat as a volunteer and joined the Armed Forces. Together with other volunteers of the 501st separate battalion of the 36th separate marine brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, he was trained at the 169th center of the Ukrainian Army Desna in Chernihiv region. After training, he signed a contract to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

When he was captured by the Russians a year ago, he was serving in the 501st Separate Marine Battalion as a senior sergeant. On April 4, 2022, Cherednyk was taken prisoner, and on April 8, he was sent to a pre-trial detention center in Donetsk. 

In captivity, Cherednyk was interrogated, and several videos were published on the Internet, which differ in their content and details.