Exclusive interview of policeman Vladimir Nikulin, who was the main character of the Oscar-winning film “20 Days in Mariupol”
“I hope this film will remind the world of our country, of the tragedy of our cities, of human sacrifice. For me, the biggest reward is when the world remembers us,” Volodymyr Nikulin said in an exclusive interview for the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.
On the night of March 10 to 11 in Los Angeles, the Academy Award ceremony was held. The film of Ukrainian director Mstislav Chernov — “20 Days in Mariupol” about the life of the Priazov city at the beginning of the full-scale invasion won the nomination “Best Feature Documentary” in February-March 2022.
The Associated Press crew were the only journalists to remain in the surrounded Mariupol and spent 20 days there. One of the main characters of the documentary “20 Days in Mariupol” was the police officer of the GUNP in Donetsk region Volodymyr Nikulin.
The law enforcement officer said that during the events of two years ago, no one thought about awards and recognition. Then the main goal was to show the world the horrors that the Russian Federation brought to Mariupol.
The man met the film crew - Mstislav Chernov, Yevgeny Maloletka and Vasilisa Stepanenko, on March 9, 2022, when Russian occupiers struck the maternity ward in Mariupol.
“Now I can't call them just a film crew because they're my friends. And the sensations that we experienced in Mariupol are incomparable with anything else. This is the special feeling of a person who is under siege and resisting. The film of my friends is about that atmosphere.”, — Volodymyr Nikulin shares.
Vladimir Nikulin helped journalists show the world footage from the surrounded Mariupol in real time. Risking his life, he took the group to the only place where there was Internet, because he was afraid that the horrors that were happening in the city were unknown to anyone.
Thanks to the photos and videos of the Associated Press film crew, the whole world and, in particular, Ukrainians saw what the Russian Federation brought to our lands with it. The documentary filmmaker and policeman Volodymyr Nikulin managed to leave Mariupol to the controlled territory of Ukraine on the 20th day after the invasion: “It was a joint decision and the only right one. These decisions are made in a second.”
For more information about the police officer's meeting with journalists, his stay in the locked Mariupol and the evacuation from the city, see the exclusive story of Volodymyr Nikulin.
Department of Communications of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
