ENT doctor with conviction for desecration of a corpse hired at hospital in Kirovohrad region

Znamianka City Hospital named after A. V. Lysenko in the Kirovohrad region has strengthened its staff with ENT doctor Oleksandr Zakladnyi, who was previously convicted of desecrating the body of a deceased woman. The medical facility's management justifies this decision by the acute need for a highly specialised specialist to ensure the full provision of medical services.

How the news about the doctor's employment emerged

The news of Zakladnyi's employment caused a stir after the hospital posted an announcement about the new specialist on its Facebook page. Local residents, familiar with the man's judicial history, actively discussed the publication. The administration later deleted the post, but screenshots had already spread across the internet.

Circumstances of the 2024 tragedy

According to the materials of the criminal case, in October 2024, Oleksandr Zakladnyi met with his ex-girlfriend, Anna Sandul. They went to his residence in Kropyvnytskyi and stayed there overnight. The next morning, the doctor found the girl dead. The results of the forensic medical examination indicated that the cause of death was methadone poisoning.

Instead of contacting law enforcement agencies, the medical worker began to hide the traces. He placed the body in a fetal position, tied it with a rope, wrapped it in a sheet and two garbage bags, and then additionally wrapped it in cardboard and adhesive tape. That evening, Zakladnyi moved the body into a car and transported it to a flooded quarry near the village of Mykhailivka in Kropyvnytskyi district. Law enforcement officers discovered Anna Sandul's body on 20 October.

Court decision and change of charges

Initially, the criminal proceedings were conducted under the article on intentional murder. However, the investigation found no evidence that the girl was intentionally killed or intentionally poisoned with methadone, so the charges were changed to desecration of the body of a deceased person.

In March 2026, the court found Zakladnyi guilty under this provision. He was sentenced to two years of imprisonment but was released from serving the sentence with a two-year probation period. When making the decision, the court took into account that the man had admitted his guilt.

It is worth noting that Zakladnyi had previously been fined 850 hryvnia for possession of narcotic substances. Later, the court overturned this punishment, as it was established that there had been violations of procedural norms by police officers during the investigation.

Comments from the hospital administration

Ruslan Pushkarenko, director of Znamianka City Hospital, confirmed to journalists that Oleksandr Zakladnyi is indeed working at the facility. He explained that the publication about the new doctor was removed due to the large number of comments, some of which, according to the head, came from suspicious accounts that had signs of being fake.

Pushkarenko emphasised that the medical facility faces staffing difficulties, and, in the opinion of the management, there are no legal prohibitions on employing Zakladnyi.

«Наразі потреба в такому фахівцеві, саме отоларингологу, в нас є. Це необхідно, щоб забезпечувати повноцінне надання медичної допомоги, зокрема роботу комісій, які відбуваються в нашій поліклініці» (Currently, we have a need for such a specialist, specifically an ENT doctor. This is necessary to ensure the full provision of medical care, in particular the work of commissions that take place in our polyclinic), – stated the hospital director.