Oleg Sentsov: “If we’re supposed to become nails in the coffin of a tyrant, I’d like to become one of those nails”

To celebrate the political prisoner’s birthday, the Ukrainian TV station Hromadske.ua has released a video showing celebrities reading Oleg Sentsov’s letter from prison he sent last August.

“To all who can find it interesting. I have been in a Russian prison for the third year. The war is being fought against my country for the third year. The enemy is mean, fighting stealthily, pretending they have nothing to do with it. Nobody believes them, but it doesn’t stop them. A war can’t be beautiful, but the truth is on other side. We haven’t attacked anyone. We are defending ourselves,” writes the Ukrainian filmmaker detained by Russian secret services in Crimea in 2014.

Famous public figures, including actress Ada Rogovtseva, poet and writer Serhiy Zhadan, artist Mykola Ridnyi, writer Andrey Kurkov, gymnast Ganna Rizatdinova, actor Oleksiy Vertynskyi, musicians Andriy Khlyvnyuk and Kasha Saltsova, read extracts from Sentsov’s letter saturated with moral strength and moving, expressive figurality.

“In addition to this external enemy, whom we all know, there are other enemies. They are smaller, they live inside us, under our skin. They are almost part of us. But they are not on our side, they are on their own. Some have survived from the old times, some want to live like in the old times but with a new face. They will fail! The big enemy and smaller enemies have different goals, but we have different paths. I don’t want to say, ‘Let’s see who’ll win.’ I know who will win. No one can stop aspirations for freedom and progress. There are many of us captured in Russia, and even more captured in Donbas. Some have been released, some are still waiting and hoping to be freed. Each of them have their own story and incarceration conditions. Some use war prisoners for their publicity, but some really work. Gaining publicity to be exchanged quicker than others prisoners is not the way I’d like to take. I don’t want to look to be number one. I want my name to remain just one of the names on the list of prisoners. It’s unlikely that I will be the last to be released, but it would be a good choice. We, prisoners, have restrictions. I don’t mean freedom – it’s something no one can take away from us. I mean we have little opportunity to do something for our country. To be more precise, we can do just one thing – to hold on! Don’t try to free us at any cost. It won’t hasten our victory. Use us as a weapon against the enemy! You must know that we are not your weak spot. If we’re supposed to become nails in the coffin of a tyrant, I’d like to become one of those nails. Just know that this particular nail will not bend. Glory to Ukraine!” Oleg Sentsov wrote.

Hromadske.ua reports that the filmmaker has been in prison for 1160 days. He was detained in spring 2014 after Russia had annexed Ukrainian Crimea. A Russian court sentenced Oleg Sentsov to 20 years in a maximum security prison on charges of plotting terrorist attacks on the peninsula. International human rights groups say Sentsov’s case is fabricated and recognise him as a prisoner of conscience, urging the Russian authorities to immediately free Oleg. Belarus Free Theatre used his story for its Burning Doors performance. The theatre struggles for the release of Sentsov and organises campaigns to support the imprisoned filmmaker.