A screening of the film Shut the Fuck Up! and a discussion with the film’s protagonist Serhiy Chaharov, its director Taisiia Kutuzova and producer Yelyzaveta Sokurenko took place in the Ye Book Store in Lutsk as a part of the 16th Travelling Festival Docudays UA.

Serhiy has fought corruption in his home village of Hatne near Kyiv since he was 15. He has received multiple threats, and then an explosive device was planted in his yard. “It all started when high-rises started appearing in the village, and access to the local lake was limited. I started to wonder who allowed to develop one of the most picturesque locations in the village. And I asked the village council for the papers to explain the grounds on which this was all happening, but they rejected my request. Then I addressed the Ombudsman, and then I received the information,” said Serhiy.

After Serhiy said in a Facebook post that the expenses of Oleksandr Palamarchuk, a member of the Kyiv-Svyatoshyn District Council, do not correspond to his income, and after he mentioned that the councilor’s wife had Russian citizenship, the councilor physically attacked the activist.

“He accused me of allegedly insulting his wife. After the threats, I wrote a statement to the police, but they did not want to open a case, just as later they did not intend to investigate the situation when explosives were planted in my yard. They were like, no damage was done, so what is there to investigate? I had to go through the courts, because the police categorized the explosion as hooliganism rather than as a murder threat (Part 1 of Article 129 of the Criminal Code of Ukriane),” added the activist.

Serhiy noted that he kept in close contact with other activists in the village. And if there is any danger, he can count on them. In turn, the majority of people in the community do not understand why he is fighting corruption. People say that he is supposed to be studying instead of “interfering with adult business.”

“At first, my parents did not understand why I was doing it either. But now they have gradually began to understand. And despite the dangers that can arise, I continue to do my work. I have no time to think about what can happen,” summarized Serhiy.

The film’s director Taisiia Kutuzova said that originally she had a different idea for the film, but when explosives were planted in the boy’s yard, it became clear what the film would be about. “I had to persuade Serhiy to be in the film. He did not want to agree,” added the producer.

The activist noted that he didn’t see anything special in his work, so he didn’t really understand why he was supposed to be the film’s protagonist.

Oksana Petruk, a journalist at the Power of Truth Center for Investigative Journalism, thanked the young man for his courage and spoke about the dangers faced by activists and investigative journalists in Lutsk.

“I think that the people featured in our publications, the people whom we expose, expect us to be scared. That’s why we cannot be scared and back off. Thank you very much for your courage, Serhiy. You are doing great work. You have a great future ahead of you. And I want to add that you are not alone,” commented Olena Petruk.

Iryna Musiy, journalist