 His views have been characterized by political scientists such as Ognyan Minchev as uncompromisingly pro-Russian.During the 2014 Crimean crisis, Chernev was one of the Orthodox Dawn (, "Pravoslavna Zora") members who helped recruit and organize a small number of Bulgarian volunteers who travelled to Crimea in order to support the Russian operations.He also served as an election observer for the 2014 referendum in Crimea.