Oleh Sentsov

Oleh Hennadiiovych Sentsov (; ; born 14 July 1976) is a Ukrainian filmmaker, writer, activist and soldier of the Ukrainian Armed Forces The conviction was described as fabricated by Amnesty International and others. He was awarded the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize in 2018.

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sentsov joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces and has been taking part in the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive, the Battle of Avdiivka and other battles.

Biography Early life and film career Sentsov was born on 13 July 1976 in Simferopol, Crimean Oblast, Ukrainian SSR. He is an ethnic Russian. From 1993 to 1998, he was an economics student in Kyiv. His first two short movies were A Perfect Day for Bananafish (2008) and The Horn of a Bull (2009). but production was postponed due to his participation in the AutoMaidan and Euromaidan protest movements. |group=nb

Trial and imprisonment corrupt

Arrest and detention Sentsov was arrested on 11 May 2014 in Crimea on suspicion of "plotting terrorist acts". With Gennady Afanasyev, Alexei Chirniy, and Alexander Kolchenko, the Federal Security Service accused the four Ukrainians of being "part of a terrorist community, to carry out explosions with home-made devices on May 9, 2014 near the Eternal Flame memorial and Lenin monument in Simferopol and to set fire to the offices of the Russian Community of Crimea public organization and the United Russia party branch in Simferopol on April 14 and April 18, 2014". On 7 July 2014, Sentsov's arrest was extended to 11 October.

Ukrainian authorities were banned by their Russian counterparts from contacting or helping Sentsov. According to Sentsov, he was deprived of his Ukrainian citizenship.

The main witness for the prosecution, Afanasyev, retracted his testimony in court on 31 July, saying it was given under duress. According to the Afanasyev's lawyer, Afanasyev was tortured, including with electric current. The other main witness, Oleksiy Chirnyi, refused to testify in court.

A Russian court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Sentsov to 20 years in prison on 25 August.

Detention Sentsov initially served his sentence in the Russian federal subject Sakha Republic. In October 2016, Russia refused to extradite Sentsov to Ukraine, claiming that he was a Russian citizen. in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. He declined visits by his family after observing that once the visitors leave other prisoners "fall into terrible deep depression". After 145 days of the hunger strike,

Reactions According to the Ombudsperson of Ukraine Valeriya Lutkovska, the decision of the Rostov court toward Ukrainians Sentsov and Oleksandr Kolchenko constituted discrimination based on national origin.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry, in a statement on its website, called the trial "a judicial farce".

Anti-Putin rally in Moscow, 10 June 2018. Participants are wearing "Free Sentsov" T-shirts. On 26 June 2014, Russia's Presidential Council for Human Rights appealed to Deputy Prosecutor General Viktor Grin to review the circumstances surrounding the arrests of Sentsov and fellow activist Oleksandr Kolchenko.

The European Union and the United States condemned Sentsov's detention and called for his release.

The European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini stated that "the EU considers the case to be in breach of international law and elementary standards of justice".

Western governments, Amnesty International, and European Film Academy deputy chairman Mike Downey described the proceedings as a show trial. The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe recognized Sentsov as a political prisoner.

The United States called the sentencing a "miscarriage of justice", stating that "Mr. Sentsov and Mr. Kolchenko were targeted by authorities because of their opposition to Russia’s attempted annexation of Crimea". Saying that Sentsov and Kolchenko were "taken hostage on Ukrainian territory", it called upon the Russian Federation to "implement the commitments it made in signing the Minsk agreements by immediately releasing Sentsov, Kolchenko, Savchenko, and all other remaining hostages".

The German government's special envoy for human rights and humanitarian affairs said in a statement that he was "shaken" by the severity of the sentences and urged Russia to comply with Council of Europe norms for the humane treatment of prisoners. Iranian film director Mohsen Makhmalbaf dedicated his acceptance of the 2015 Robert Bresson Prize at the Venice Film Festival to Sentsov, calling the conviction a "major injustice" and the sentence "a move to intimidate all Russian society, especially the intellectuals and artists".

The European Parliament supported a resolution calling for the immediate release of Sentsov and other Ukrainian political prisoners. Before the vote, all major political groups in the European Parliament, when discussing the human rights situation in Russia, called for the release of Sentsov and 158 other political prisoners held in the country. The participants in the debate stressed the need to continue sanctions pressure on the Kremlin, and European leaders and diplomats were urged not to attend the World Cup, which opened 14 June in Russia.

The Sejm of Poland adopted a resolution on 15 June 2018 demanding the release of Ukrainians imprisoned in Russia for political reasons. In the resolution deputies demanded, in particular, the release of Sentsov, Kolchenko, and Sushchenko.

Sentsov was granted the title of honorary citizen of Paris on 24 September 2018. Sentsov was awarded the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize on 25 October 2018, in a move described by The Guardian as an EU rebuke to Russian President Vladimir Putin. On 7 September 2019, in a prisoner swap with Ukraine, Russia released Sentsov. On that same day he returned to Kyiv, where he and other returning prisoners were welcomed by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and where Sentsov reunited with his family. French, and German leaders and leaders of international organizations such as NATO, OSCE, and the European Parliament.

Life and career after release Sentsov's film Nomera (The Numbers) was shown at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival in 2020. The film was produced while Sentsov was still in prison. During this time he corresponded with his co-director Seitablayev.

Fighting in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sentsov joined the Territorial Defense Forces of Kyiv, which is a part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He called on the international film community to boycott Russian cinema. Sentsov took part in the Battle of Kyiv, using an NLAW to destroy Russian tanks. Sentsov claims he takes part in the war to "return the Ukrainian flag to Crimea." Balakliia and Kupiansk. As of July 2023, he is an infantry second lieutenant (given this rank in June 2023 fighting on the Zaporizhzhia front during the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive, where he was lightly wounded during offensive operations. On 23 November 2023 Sentsov posted a video on Facebook showing him taking part in the Battle of Avdiivka.

In 2024, Sentsov released Real, a documentary showing a group of Ukrainian soldiers in a trench during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The film is made of a single 90-minute shot that Sentsov recorded by accidentally switching on the GoPro camera attached to his helmet.

As a commander of an assault company (of the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade) Sentsov took part in the August 2024 Kursk Oblast incursion. In 2025, he was promoted to become a battalion commander in the 47th Mechanized Brigade.

Works

Films