Hospital in Kirovohrad region hires doctor convicted of desecrating a dead body

Convicted medical professional returns to profession

Otolaryngologist Oleksandr Zakladny has begun working at A. V. Lysenko Znamianka City Hospital in the Kirovohrad region. This became known after a post on the medical facility’s official Facebook page, where the new specialist was introduced. This information caused a stir, as six months ago, a court convicted Zakladny of desecrating the body of a 24-year-old woman.

Circumstances of Anna Sandul’s death

The tragedy occurred in October 2024. At that time, Oleksandr’s ex-girlfriend, 24-year-old Anna Sandul, went missing. According to Tatsiy, the day before, her friend decided to spend the night at the man’s place, after which she stopped answering calls. After three days of searching, divers found Anna’s body in a flooded quarry. Her ex-boyfriend became the suspect in the case.

The investigation established that on the evening of 16 October, Oleksandr and Anna spent time in the man’s apartment. After midnight, they went to bed. When Zakladny woke up in the morning, the woman was dead. Forensic examination determined that the cause of death was poisoning by a narcotic substance. During a search of the man’s residence, four packets containing drug residues were found.

Body concealment and verdict

Instead of notifying law enforcement agencies, medical professionals, or the deceased’s relatives, Oleksandr decided to hide the death. The man placed the body in a fetal position, tied it with a rope, wrapped it in a sheet and two garbage bags, then covered it with cardboard and secured it with adhesive tape. He drove the deceased to one of the villages in the region and threw her into a body of water.

In March 2026, the court found Zakladny guilty of desecrating a dead body (Part 1, Article 297 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). Although the article provided for various types of punishment, ranging from a fine to imprisonment, the court sentenced him to two years in prison. Due to mitigating circumstances, including sincere repentance and full admission of guilt, the actual term was replaced with a suspended sentence.

Appeal and hospital’s position

Later, the case was heard in the appellate court. The instance upheld the punishment without changes but increased the compensation for the deceased’s family from 50,000 to 200,000 hryvnia. The man was also fined 850 hryvnia for possession of narcotic substances, but the court later overturned this decision due to procedural violations by the police.

Representatives of Znamianka City Hospital refused to comment on the details of the employment, citing the lack of grounds for providing explanations regarding staff and commenting on social media information. Meanwhile, the medical facility’s director, Ruslan Pushkarenko, confirmed that Oleksandr Zakladny is indeed working at the hospital and noted that there are no legal obstacles to him performing his professional duties.