The Chechelovsky District Court of Dnipro began consideration on the merits of criminal proceedings against Anatoly Taranenko, a military man, which is accused of desertion and misappropriation of military property. Taranenko was returned to Ukraine in May 2025 as part of the exchange of prisoners of war.
According to the investigation, the criminal proceedings against him were initiated on January 29, 2021 - immediately after he, according to investigators, left the Ukrainian side and moved to the side of the Russian forces. Since then, Taranenko has appeared in the plots of Russian propaganda, where he accused the Armed Forces of shelling of Donetsk region and declared his intention not to return to Ukraine. After February 2021, his traces in the information space disappeared.
On May 24, 2025, during the second stage of exchange of prisoners of war under the formula "1000 to 1000", Taranenko returned to Ukraine. Videos from the exchange place showed a man similar to him, with the Ukrainian flag on his shoulders. However, the military did not communicate with journalists.
According to Andriy Yusenko, Deputy Chairman of the Coordination Headquarters on the Defense of Prisoners of Pursuing, the name of Taranenko was included in the exchange lists by Russia.
In December 2024, the Chechelovsky District Court of the Dnieper resumed criminal proceedings that were previously lost in the Volnovakian court. On June 4, 2025, the composition of judges was formed to hear the case.
Taranenko is accused under part 3 of Article 408 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (desertion) and part 3 of Article 410 of the Criminal Code (appropriation of military property). In particular, according to the former commander of the department of the 1st tank brigade Dmitry Tereshchenko, Taranenko took from the place of dislocation the device of the night vision and fled towards the enemy. Although in the propaganda stories the military said that he had burned the infantry fighting car, his commander noted that the car was damaged but not destroyed.
On June 5, Anatoliy Taranenko did not appear at the court hearing, which is why the court refused to apply a measure of arrest to him. According to prosecutor Irina Lenkevich, after returning from captivity, Taranenko undergoes rehabilitation in a military hospital in Vinnitsa.
