Detention: On the night of May 8-9, 2014, in Simferopol, Oleksiy Chirniy was detained by Russian FSB officers. He is the fourth defendant in the so-called 'Sentsov case' along with filmmaker Oleh Sentsov, activist Oleksandr Kolchenko, and photographer Hennadiy Afanasyev. After his arrest, Chirniy was held in complete isolation for nine months, with no access to Ukrainian consuls. His first meeting with Consul Hennadiy Breskalenko took place only on February 3, 2015. The occupying authorities declared him a 'Russian citizen,' but he insisted on his Ukrainian citizenship. He was subjected to torture following his detention.

Sentence: On April 21, 2015, the North Caucasus District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Oleksiy Chirniy to 7 years of strict regime imprisonment. Chirniy served his sentence in three facilities: Magadan, Moscow, and the VK-15 colony in Bataysk, Rostov region. On May 7, 2021, after serving his full term, he was released. From the colony to the Ukrainian border, Oleksiy was accompanied by Ukraine's Consul General in Rostov-on-Don, Taras Malyshevskyi. Until the end, Oleksiy doubted his release would happen: 'The administration constantly provoked, saying "Crimea is ours," not ours. At that time, they already had a law that added 5 years if you said "occupation."' He realized they were heading to the border only after passing Rostov and turning north.

Oleksiy Chirniy is a Crimean, a candidate of historical sciences, and the author of the work 'Military-Political History of Parthia.' He was a lecturer at the Simferopol Institute of Culture. He engaged in medieval weaponry reconstruction and was interested in paganism and runology, carving Scandinavian runes in the Magadan colony. He was also interested in speleology and fencing.

The conditions of imprisonment were harsh. Throughout his term in VK-15 Bataysk, he received over 51 disciplinary penalties for refusing to work for Russia. As Consul General Malyshevskyi explained: 'They wanted Chirniy to pay because he refused to work, to go to those workshops, sew bags, glue boxes, or assemble crates. This was his principled position — not to work for the Russian state.' Documented torture methods included blowing tobacco smoke through a gas mask. He spent almost all his time in EPCT (single-cell type premises). During his imprisonment, attempts were made to open a new case against him for 'discrediting' the Russian army.

At the trial, Chirniy pleaded guilty, although his lawyer claimed it was due to torture. Shortly before the verdict, Afanasyev publicly retracted his testimony against Sentsov and Kolchenko, confirming it was coerced. After his release in 2019, Oleh Sentsov publicly wished Chirniy freedom and stated he held no grievances against him. A European Parliament resolution on July 17, 2019, recognized Chirniy as a political prisoner.

After his release, Chirniy underwent rehabilitation. He received a lifetime ban from entering Crimea by the occupying authorities, which he called a 'dog's certificate.' On February 24, 2022, with the start of the full-scale invasion, he went to the front. He fought for over a year in the Zaporizhzhia direction (call sign 'Crimea'), after which he was transferred to defend the borders of the Sumy region. In a 2023 interview, Oleksiy Chirniy said: 'Russia will not just collapse, but will face much more global problems. They already lost Crimea, Afghanistan, and now they will lose this one too.'

Information sourced from open sources: ZMINA, BBC Ukraine, Suspilne Crimea, Radio Liberty (Crimea.Realities), Hromadske, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

Photo: ZMINA.

Update date: 03.07.2026.