In August 1942 Chernikov served in 120 IAD-PVO. This unit was equipped with Polikarpov I-153s.

On 30 August 1942 he claimed a Bf109 in the Stalingrad area while using RS-82 rockets from his I-153.
His victim was a Bf109F-4 (WNr. 13314) flown by 35-victory-ace Leutnant Heinrich Graf von Einsiedel from III/JG 3, who was shot down and taken PoW.
Von Einsiedel returned to Germany in 1950.

Chernikov ended the war with 1 biplane victory.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1941
1	30/08/42		1	Bf109 (a)	Destroyed	I-153		Stalingrad area	120 IAD

Biplane victories: 1 destroyed.
TOTAL: 1 destroyed.
(a) Heinrich Graf von Einsiedel from III/JG 3shot down and PoW.

Sources:
Black Cross/Red Star: Air War Over the Eastern Front by Christer Bergström
Germanskiye asy na vostochnom fronte 1 (1941-43) – Dmirtiy Khazanov kindly provided by Ondrej Repka
Additional information kindly provided by Ondrej Repka.