In the war you learn quickly if you survive: where is the director and military Oleg Sentsov now
He spent five years in a Russian prison, where he withstood a hunger strike for 145 days, in the future he was exchanged. Anyone can vote for Sentsov, who is one of the 10 finalists of the rating. As part of the rating of "Ukrainian of the Year" focus, the editorial staff introduces readers to its nominees. Sentsov was born in Simferopol in 1976 and studied at the Kyiv National Economic University.
His first feature film "Hamker" was published in 2012 and received a prize in film scholars and film critics at the Festival of the Spirit of Fire. In 2013, he was awarded the movie "Rhinoceros" in Odessa, but the movie was released before the start of a full -scale invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine.
During the Dignity Revolution, the director participated in protests, and after the occupation of the Crimean Peninsula, he repeatedly visited Simferopol's native for him, where he assisted all the Ukrainian military who were still on the peninsula. He tried to hold rallies "for a single country". In March 2014, Russian security officers detained Sentsov and accused of terrorism that he was about to install explosive devices with accomplices.
On the interrogations of the FSB he was knocked out of recognizable testimony. He remembered that they were beaten by his feet and bangs. For refusing to speak tried to choke. There were up to four such cases. "They threatened to rape me with a stick, take it to the woods and bury it there. They tired in four hours, and they took me to search," he recalled later. After the detention, Ukrainian and Russian cultural figures, and the European Academy, called for his release.
In a number of cities there were actions in support of the director. In 2015, the Memorial Human Rights Center recognized Sensov as a political prisoner. A few weeks after that, the Russian court sentenced - 20 years in prison of the colony of a strict regime. According to Sentsov, Russian investigators tried to negotiate with him and appoint 7 years of imprisonment instead of 20, if he testified to the Maidan leadership.
The struggle of Ukrainian and international human rights defenders lasted several years, Sentsov declared a hunger strike. In 145 days, weight loss of 20 kg, after which he stopped protest for health reasons. He returned to Ukraine only on September 7, 2019 after exchange for Russian criminals. After the start of a full -scale war, he joined the ranks of Kiev and also, and also called on the International Film Committee to boycott the Russian film production.
After the territorial defense of Kyiv, Sentsov joined the ranks of the 47th Magura Armed Forces. After a while, he became a company commander with a call sign. During the fighting, he got some injuries, and in an interview with journalists repeatedly said that he went to the front to take revenge on the Russians in five years of captivity. He participated in a number of battles in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, time ravine and more.
In June 2023 he was intense shelling and almost lost his life. Recalling this, Sentsov said that the fighters occupied his mouth, despite the fact that they suffered losses, the car was blown up, but the soldiers managed to get out. The following month, he received a contusion, and in a few weeks he was fired again and was a shrapnel wound. In the same year, he was awarded the title of lieutenant.
The director continues to serve in the ranks of the 47th brigade and perform combat tasks at hot spots. In his recent interview, the TV army drew attention to the attitude in Russian troops to Ukrainian prisoners. "They are mostly very bad for our prisoners, especially in the last three months - they just shoot them. And it already has a mass character," he said. According to him, it all started with Bucha, and continues, and the end and the edge is not.
"That is, the level of their aggression and inhumanity is only increasing," he added. When asked whether people who are not able to go into the army are capable of being good fighters, he says that no one came into the army with a good fighter. "I also came, I thought that I was able to, but I couldn't. He acknowledges that the number of volunteers who sought for the front in the first months of the war decreased.
There are people who make this decision, realizing that the war has already been delayed and will continue for some time. According to him, he did not meet in the army those who were caught on the beads. "There are such cases, but they are single, not massive," he explained. Sentsov also emphasizes the lack of the military, especially in the infantry, which carries the main burden of war. Often, elderly people, people with diseases, and make them difficult, says the former director.
In his opinion, victory without the release of Crimea cannot be, even if active fighting is over. "This war began with the occupation of Crimea, and now it will only end in the Crimea. Therefore, when I say that the war can last 10 years, then I speak about the de -occupation This will be a victory, "the director explained. In terms of mobilization, he believes that it should be done by motivation, but not patriotism.