Ukranian Director-Turned-Soldier Oleg Senstov Injured in Battle
Ukranian filmmaker-turned-soldier Oleg Sentsov was injured in battle twice this month, according to the “Rhino” director’s Facebook posts, and separately was awarded France’s highest award of merit last week.
“This was just yesterday,” Sentsov said in July 9 post featuring a video of him lying on the ground in combat gear. He speaks quietly Ukrainian in the short clip, with the sounds of mortar shells and guns in the background. “Today is already a little better. At the hospital. The boys are too,” the text accompanying the video said.
The “Rhino” director, now an infantry platoon commander, didn’t detail the nature of his injuries. But yesterday, Sentsov was apparently hit again.
“The week hasn’t stopped yet. On the first combat exit after returning, while landing, fell under artillery shelling,” he posted, above a photo of himself with wounds on his face. “Bradley saved our lives again,” he continued, referring to the U.S.-supplied Bradley Fighting Vehicle, at least 60 of which have been sent to help Ukraine in its fight against Russia. “Three injured, mostly fractures.”
Senstov was apparently hit with shrapnel during the attack. “Already pulled out of my face, the small things in my hand and foot will stay with me forever,” he wrote. “The other guys are fine too – Zaporizhzhia doctors know their stuff, thank you!”
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The post suggests that his unit was fighting in eastern Urkaine, in one of three hotspots of battle amid the Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russia’s Februrary 2022 invasion.
Sentsov joined the defense of his country less than a month into the fight. ““Life has changed in an instant with the fall of the first bomb on the territory of Ukraine,” he said at the time.
Another post from Friday showed a medal in Senstov’s hand. “This is our joint award, everyone who is now defending Ukraine,” the filmmaker posted.
The medal was the Legion of Honor, the highest award of merit from the French government. The Kyiv Independent reported that France presented the award to Sentsov and Ukranian writer Oksana Zabukhko on Friday.
Sentsov has a long history of involvement in Ukrainian politics. Prior to the war, he was an activist and opposed the 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia. He was arrested by the Russian special services in May 2014, and accused of planning a terrorist attack.
He was sentenced to 20 years in prison despite his insistence that he was not guilty, and took part in a hunger strike that lasted 145 days. He was released during a prisoner swap with Ukraine in September 2019. He was awarded the Sakarhov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2018, which he collected in France after he was released.
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In a separate Facebook post from Thursday showed him kissing the head of a baby that appears to be his young son, Demian, and holding a cupcake with a single candle on it. “The best gift ever,” he posted.
On June 28, Senstov posted a tribute to his wife, Veronika Velch. “I’m very proud of the woman I love,” he wrote. “Although we are now constantly apart, the bond between us only grows stronger. I’m glad that Veronica and Demian returned to Ukraine despite some risks.
“Having a home where your family is waiting for you, it gives a whole other level of motivation out here at the front,” he continued. “You know exactly for whom you are risking your life, you know exactly for who you must survive.”
