Roman Sydorenko

Melitopol, a city in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia Oblast, has traditionally been a hub of religious and cultural diversity. Numerous Christian churches operated there, not only coexisting but also effectively collaborating with one another. Among them, Protestant churches were some of the most active and influential. Immediately following the start of Russia's occupation of Melitopol and the wider region in 2022, local Christians faced repression. Clergy were subjected to searches and interrogations by Russian forces. Eventually, several churches were banned and stripped of all property, including their buildings. Priests were either officially deported or forced to flee under threat, with Russian propaganda often accusing them of stockpiling weapons and ammunition. Believers were forced to go underground.

The horror story, imbued with the search for the true evil in this world. The most ancient legends of folklore will be recreated from the ancient beliefs about the otherworldly evil of the Kazakh region. Retelling again, they will merge into the realities of our days. We will see Zhestyrnak, Zhalmauyz Kempir and the Ghost from the Kapchagai highway. In their appearance, the heroes of the film will try to recognize the authenticity of evil, which for centuries has cooled blood and deprived of life. But the bitterness of truth itself will find them - "There is no worse in the world - man."

They could not look indifferently at the bloody wounds of Ukraine, did not stand aside when the Ukrainian East fell into darkness. The story of those who became a symbol of the war for independence.

In June 2023, there was an explosion at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant. Several pieces of evidence showed that the Russian military, who were in control of the hydroelectric power plant at the time, had blown it up from the inside. The occupied east bank of Kherson Oblast suffered more than the west bank due to its geography, being lower down the river. Dozens of settlements and summer cottages, where thousands of people lived, were submerged in water. Representatives of the Russian occupying forces did not recognize the scale of the disaster and said that there was no need to evacuate civilians.

Russian forces looted two museums in Kherson in the fall of 2022 — the Art Museum and the Museum of Local History. As the Russian army retreated amid the Ukrainian counteroffensive, it seized over 33,000 pieces of art and historical artifacts, including Scythian, Gothic, and Sarmatian gold. This heist became the largest in Europe since World War II.

A modernized adaptation of Volodymyr Vynnychenko‘s short story.