The Russian Woodpecker (2015) - full transcript
As his country is gripped by revolution and war, a Ukrainian victim of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster discovers a dark secret and must decide whether to risk his life and play his part in the revolution by revealing it.
I'll try to convince the soldiers...
not to use violence.
We're guys with sticks,
are we going to kill you?
The government will fall tomorrow.
A government
against its people can't survive.
Lay down your shields.
The Soviet Union
absolutely wants revenge...
and is pushing the
world toward World War III.
If we don't stop it here...
if we don't stop it now...
it will be too late.
Ukraine is full of ghosts.
Ghosts of the past that
are trying to return to life.
And there is a ghost at Chernobyl...
whose scream was heard around the world.
I want to hunt down these ghosts...
and silence them forever.
Because they want to return to life.
Or drag us to their world...
the world of the dead.
Let's do it with a lot of texture.
That will add a sort of ancient rhythm.
I don't know what to do with this hand.
Paint it the colors of Ukraine?
Yes, paint it Ukrainian.
It's stretching toward...
upward, reaching for each other.
That's it then.
Let's put it further back...
I read Tim Burton's memoir...
he wrote, "The worst
problem on the film 'Big Fish'...
was that the actor had to be naked."
"And the mosquitoes bit."
But we won't have any mosquitoes.
And Chernobyl mosquitoes?
Seeing Fedor, I realized
that he was from another world.
He doesn't fit with
people of this day and age.
My friends say
contradictory things about him.
Some say, "He's crazy, an idiot!"
"He has dirty fingernails.
He doesn't brush his teeth."
But the smarter ones...
say that Fedor is a genius.
And everything he does is theater.
He thinks differently from others.
A little crazy, a little strange...
but always honest.
During the Chernobyl
catastrophe they sent away the children...
so they wouldn't
suffer from the radiation in Kiev.
I remember people were in a panic.
And I was sent to an orphanage...
because my parents couldn't be with me.
I was four years old.
I told the children,
"I'm just here temporarily..."
"My parents are coming back for me."
They said, "All parents
say that, you'll be here forever!"
And I believed it.
I thought I'd be there forever.
It's actually quite a
serious trauma for a child.
And from that time
I've felt strange... different.
Fedor is so tragic.
From childhood he was
a delicate, agitable, gifted boy.
And he spoke like an adult.
His speech was so rich and mature.
Also, he was a pacifist.
When he was six,
he put on a tuxedo and a bowler hat...
and went to the children with a letter...
asking them not to play at war.
He started collecting signatures.
They beat him up.
After that, he
stopped collecting signatures.
When they did an analysis...
they found radioactive
strontium in his bones.
They wanted us to treat him with hormones.
He's suffered so
much, his health especially...
all from Chernobyl.
Fedor had long wanted
to make a film about Chernobyl.
Because it's been more than 27 years...
and the cause of the
explosion is not clear.
I remembered a story from my father...
who was in the Soviet Air Force.
After the explosion,
he flew directly over the reactor.
He said he saw
a giant luminous pyramid there.
And it gleamed in the
rays of the setting sun.
When Fedor heard the story...
he got really excited
and wanted to go there.
He found an old Soviet map...
And where my father
saw the shining object...
"Boy Scout Camp" was written.
Many people tried to dissuade
him, because it's a radioactive zone.
But Fedor ignored them.
Because he felt there was a secret here...
that could shed light
on the Chernobyl explosion.
Na... tio... nal Museum.
And lower?
Cher... no... byl.
We're going to see a
terrible catastrophe...
That happened when I was just your age.
Nobody knows why it happened.
I'm trying to find out why it happened...
and who is guilty.
During the nighttime
they did an experiment.
But the experiment was wrong, forbidden.
They weren't supposed to do it?
No, they shouldn't have.
Is it poison?
Yes, it's poison.
When the explosion happened,
no one thought anything of it.
Maybe some people knew about the radiation.
They put on masks and we were surprised.
Why wear a mask in such good weather?
Life went on as normal.
Many went sunbathing at the river.
Trucks came to wash the streets.
We thought it was for a holiday.
Our children played in that water.
From the station came a
beautiful raspberry-colored steam.
And to see it better,
people gathered at a bridge.
But it turned out the
bridge had the most radiation.
Attention! Attention!
Attention! Attention!
Dear Comrades:
There has been an accident...
at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
The Communist Party
is taking all necessary measures.
However, in order to fully
protect our citizens' health...
children being the highest priority...
It has become necessary to implement...
a temporary evacuation.
As you all know,
a misfortune has recently befallen us.
The government did everything possible
to hide the magnitude of this accident.
I can say with confidence
that they didn't think about the people.
If such a disaster happens...
We must learn a lesson
so it doesn't happen again.
But even specialists
are barred from documents...
that they could be researching.
When Ukraine became independent...
professional historians
had the possibility...
and the need to try to find the truth.
But I went to the
archives and nothing is there.
Everything was disbanded...
scattered about...
and in short, destroyed.
We are on the edge of Kiev.
Beyond the Kiev Sea
is the Chernobyl nuclear station.
This sea is radioactive.
This is the water of
Lethe, the water of forgetfulness.
Because not much time has passed...
and people have forgotten this tragedy.
I remember in my childhood,
after they sent away the children...
they said red wine
protects against radiation.
So let us make an offering...
to the gods of the underworld...
with the blood of this wine...
that we may find the truth.
STOP! FORBIDDEN RADIOACTIVE ZONE
but I asked, was it a crime?
And I answered, there was a trial...
Therefore there was a crime. Correct?
We're speaking different languages...
We have agreed it was a crime.
I have one question:
"Are you a nuclear scientist?"
I'm an artist.
Ðnd simply a citizen of this country.
I'm a lawyer and military worker.
And I think that experts should
discuss and express their opinions.
No, why? Why only specialists?
I'm asking experts their opinions...
If your car breaks down, can you repair it?
Yes, I repair my own car.
It's a hobby of mine.
Interesting...
And nuclear energy,
do you understand it too?
No. But I hope those who
are watching might understand.
We're collecting different views.
People should hear different opinions.
I'm trying to understand
and I'm told it's a mystery...
Veil of Isis, whatnot.
I want to know the truth.
If it was a crime and
people were condemned...
But to this day, there are still
disputes about who is to blame.
Maybe the perpetrators
have not yet been found.
Our town was awesome.
It was clean and green.
We had an incredible number of roses.
And there were a lot of children.
And lots of joy.
We had fantastic provisions.
We had ketchup. Marvelous.
We had chicken.
It wasn't a city, it was a fairytale.
We're now not too far
from the Chernobyl station.
In a destroyed amusement park...
in a dead city, a ghost town...
where everything is steeped in radiation...
and deathly dangerous.
These gas masks
were for the schoolchildren.
But they don't protect against radiation.
And they're all that's left of this school.
In 1976, a radio signal
terrorized the Western world.
The signal was traced to
a small town in the Soviet Union...
Chernobyl.
Home to one of the
largest nuclear reactors in Europe.
And hiding in its shadows...
stands a steel monster...
taller than the Great Pyramid of Giza.
When driving home
from work, on the left side...
a watchtower was visible.
But it was a closed military town.
What was there? Some said a radio antenna.
Others said some kind of interceptor.
They toyed with all kinds of ideas.
But what it really was?
No one knew.
If they said it was
forbidden, then it was forbidden.
No one was even allowed to ask.
Why ask? Just to be punished?
We're at the
epicenter of the Chernobyl catastrophe.
We face a mystery: What was that sound?
And why was the Duga antenna built here?
There is no connection
to the Chernobyl station's energy.
The whole world knows this
sound as the "Russian Woodpecker."
Most people connect this
to an over-the-horizon antenna.
Namely the Duga
next to the Chernobyl station.
Is that possible?
No, it's not possible, for several reasons.
The fact of the matter is,
the Chernobyl radar...
It didn't work, so it
couldn't make any interference.
Second, this antenna
was built to look in a narrow range...
to the south.
Not toward America or Europe.
Could there be a
connection between the Duga radar...
and the accident at Chernobyl?
That's another question, let
me tell you about Stalin instead.
First, everything
people say about his brutality...
is simply impossible.
Because Stalin graduated from a seminary...
and he was meant to take Holy Orders.
Holy Orders.
But he was such an outstanding person...
that when he saw injustice...
he decided to become a revolutionary.
Many people still have a Soviet mentality.
They swore an oath...
they signed their names.
In comes a
foreign journalist, and they clam up.
They start acting
according to their former orders.
What can I tell you about the antenna?
Steel...
Tall...
It hummed in the wind.
They remember the KGB...
about being under constant surveillance.
"God forbid I give away some secret."
Military secret.
Cheers.
Thank you so much,
you gave us valuable information.
I did my best not to give
any valuable information.
Don't flatter me.
I'm a military man.
The object is also military.
And very classified.
Remember you showed
us a list of telephone numbers...
of people who served at the Duga?
But then you didn't
want to give it to us...
when you saw an American with us.
That's right.
I won't give it.
Understand, there are things that...
Are you a Ukrainian citizen?
I am a Ukrainian citizen.
And I am a Ukrainian citizen.
And I will remain so.
There are things you
shouldn't blabber about.
So you don't want
anything to do with Americans?
In this matter, yes.
May I use the bathroom?
Our object was a system
for missile warning.
In 10 years we
detected every Shuttle launch.
All.
And during that time,
every country in the world...
heard the Woodpecker.
This tap-tap-tap-tap,
this 10 hertz signal...
Yes, it resembles a
woodpecker knocking on a tree.
So the Woodpecker
signal came from the Duga?
Well, yes.
I will answer as a radar specialist.
In fact, I'm nicknamed "Antenna Man."
Since the Earth is round...
you will never see all of it.
Because there is a zone of invisibility.
Here you can see, and here you can see.
But here you can't see.
Now, to speak specifically
about the Chernobyl antenna...
this is one of three super-powerful...
over-the-horizon radars.
The antenna cost twice as much
as the Chernobyl nuclear plant.
Around seven billion Russian rubles.
It works because of the ionosphere...
The ray bounces off the ionosphere...
bounces off the
Earth and grabs information.
And then comes back.
It's a curved gun.
The Duga caused a lot of problems.
Not only in Europe, but in the USSR.
Our radar interfered with SOS signals.
So the head technician came...
and changed the frequency.
But at this new frequency...
our signal was unable
to overcome the Northern Lights.
It's difficult for me to speak...
Because what I see is not a human creation.
It's the creation of Empire.
And this pile of metal was
useless from the very beginning.
It was useless before it was even built.
It had no theoretical basis to function...
and so it was doomed from the start.
This iron curtain was the
source of the Russian Woodpecker sound.
And this Iron Curtain...
was known as "The Eye of Moscow."
The "Moscow Eye" next
to an atomic heart, Chernobyl station...
the heart of the Soviet Union.
But this eye was blind.
This antenna didn't work.
Could there be a
connection between this blind eye...
And the bursting of the atomic heart?
Somehow they're connected...
but it's a mystery.
Because for me it was a huge tragedy.
And every tragedy must have a reason.
There are no coincidences.
The collapse of the Soviet Union...
was the greatest
geopolitical catastrophe of the century.
We know that the Soviet system is evil.
It started with evil...
And ended with the greatest
evil, the Chernobyl disaster.
And again there are
victims and will be victims.
And again there will be war.
When Fedor started
researching the Duga antenna...
he really scared me.
I'm afraid because he's
exploring a topic no one has raised.
Because we live in a criminal country.
We are far from a democracy.
We don't have freedom of press.
Of course I'm afraid for my only son.
And don't forget Stalin
physically destroyed our family.
Both of my grandmothers
were sent to the gulag.
The reflections of
the Soviet Union remain...
and these people are still here.
They are among us.
He was my older brother.
Petro.
They came for him during his lessons.
Soviet partisans.
They shot him.
I can't...
It's hard for me to tell this story.
I was a child...
but I loved him more
than anything in the world.
My father had it worst of all.
Someone from the KGB arrived...
"You have to write that your
parents are enemies of the state."
Papa said, "Give me a minute to think."
Then he threw an inkstand at him.
He hid behind the table
and the inkstand crashed into a wall.
Of course, he also
went to the gulag for that.
That was my father.
Fedor's behavior is similar.
This was the Chief Designer.
Video recording, no...
Could you show us
a model and answer a few questions?
Hold on, what kind of questions?
Why are you suddenly interested in this?
Yes! That's it. That's it.
Oh my god, so beautiful.
The Americans always
put us in an interesting situation.
They pulled their
equipment close to our borders...
making it easier to monitor our territory.
And to compensate for
our lack of information...
this system was created...
which was called the Duga.
We were provoked, so we had to respond.
Therefore we created tools like the Duga...
so there wouldn't be a war.
Why were all these documents,
materials, archives destroyed?
You are asking a very delicate question.
Some things I don't understand
and don't want to understand.
And I don't want to talk about this topic.
Why were the Americans
afraid of the Chernobyl radar?
Because our signal could have covered...
all nine US missile bases.
And this was a deterrent.
Our antenna gave the
government 25 minutes...
To make a decision.
What could we have done in only 10 minutes?
Well, they could have said...
"Go hide under a table."
But with 25 minutes,
we can give the command...
to launch our own missiles.
So the antenna was on combat duty...
The Duga never entered combat mode.
Before the accident of April 1986...
we were making our final revisions...
after which we would go to combat mode...
in September, 1986.
Instead, we got an
Order of Closure and Liquidation.
There were only three
or four months until September.
You know that the Duga
didn't work very well, right?
Of course.
And on September 1st, 1986
a commission was to inspect the Duga?
Therefore, the Chernobyl catastrophe
benefited the builders of the Duga?
Of course. Without a doubt.
It could be at the
very least a motivation...
for those responsible for the Duga...
which cost a lot of money...
and in the end didn't work.
It didn't work because it was
to someone's advantage to close it.
In general, there
were so many irregularities.
If you read the official version quickly...
everything looks normal, logical.
But when you start to look deeper,
and ask why this... and why that...
There are a lot
of questions, and no answers.
Maybe if something
so important didn't work...
The best way to hide the failure...
is to blame it on the accident.
If we're searching for who benefited...
we can say that
the builder of the Duga did.
Maybe, yes.
They pushed the
personnel to take a big risk.
In the end, they drove the
reactor into a dangerous state...
And then an
uncontrolled chain reaction began.
Do you know the Soviet punishment...
For misappropriating government funds?
The death sentence.
This statute applied to
whoever wasted those 7 billion.
And to save his life, maybe he
caused the Chernobyl catastrophe.
I'll answer as someone who
has worked 26 years at this station.
I ran the reactor with my own hands.
So I know what I'm talking about.
Your version is extremely fantastical.
Very.
It's clearly fantastical, but...
I think not.
"No because..."?
I would never have
allowed such a thing to happen.
So we can say...
Artem, is the camera running?
So no one claims we edited this...
I'll repeat it in a full sentence.
The theory that Chernobyl
was exploded on purpose...
to hide the non-functioning Duga...
Bullshit.
So much malarkey and fantasies.
First, zombies...
That we blew up Chernobyl station.
Stupidity.
It's a theory.
I'm not a prosecutor, I'm not a journalist.
I'm just a person.
Behind this there must be one person.
And all roads lead to Moscow.
Because the Duga reported to Moscow...
And the Chernobyl
station reported to Moscow.
So, the Woodpecker truly is Russian...
Even though he resides in Ukraine.
And if we connect
this person to the Woodpecker...
we will understand everything.
One day he was
reading and I was watching...
Then it was as if something had stung him.
"I discovered who did it!"
"Look, Artem, look! I found it!"
And then he showed me.
It was the first time I heard his theory.
And I was convinced.
Fedor investigated
all the builders of the Duga...
and found one person who
had the motive and the power...
to cause the catastrophe.
Well, this is in the
realm of conspiracy theories...
Such a person exists.
I'll tell you who he is.
It was one Shamshin.
I ask that we not
mention his name on air...
And is he still alive?
No, he died in 2009.
He started work on
over-the-horizon radar in 1948.
And he was
responsible for the Duga's construction.
And this man...
became Minister of Communications
when the Duga was launched.
The Vice-President of the
Soviet-Cuban Friendship Society...
Soviet Minister Shamshin...
noted that heroic Soviet
support led to the Cuban revolution...
which gave a strong impulse
to the liberation of Latin America.
This shows his significance.
He's Minister and Vice President
of the Soviet-Cuban Friendship Society.
It's important because "Soviet-Cuban
friendship" means "war against the US."
Only America and the
Soviet Union could pull off...
a system as powerful as
the over-the-horizon radar.
And Shamshin insisted on building it.
Shamshin was not alone
in supporting the creation of the Duga.
At the very top, he was alone.
But the physicist Kabanov said...
that it's impossible
to build such an antenna.
So if it came out that it didn't work...
Shamshin would have had big problems?
Of course, big problems.
Is it even technically possible...
if you had the power...
to create such a grand catastrophe?
Well, there are dozens
of ways to blow up the reactor.
It's not difficult.
There is testimony from
a quite respectable person.
Komarov.
I advise you to meet with
him to discuss the matter.
While he is still alive...
I served on the Expert Commission...
of the General
Prosecutor's office of the USSR.
I was head of the commission
for the investigation of the accident.
I had access to all documents
provided to the Prosecutor's office.
I was at the Chernobyl
station during its construction.
I was Deputy Chief
Engineer of Science and Safety.
After this I was sent to Moscow.
And joined the Central Committee
of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Kopchinski, the Head of Atomic Energy,
insisted they proceed with the experiment.
But the reactor was unstable,
working under capacity for a day.
Proceeding with that
experiment was suicide.
There was constant communication between
Kopchinski and the Shift Supervisor.
I talked to a lot of personnel
and they agreed it all hangs on this call.
And it was the cause of the catastrophe.
First of all, I was home, naturally.
Naturally, I was in bed.
My son and daughter are
witnesses that I was at home.
When Kopchinski says
there was no telephone connection...
between his apartment and the station...
it's nonsense.
You can call the station
from any apartment.
Mr. Komarov should
know, if he's such an expert...
That no one can give a command,
not even the General Secretary...
to the personnel of a nuclear power plant.
A Chernobyl engineer can't argue with a
senior official of the Communist Party.
Why on Earth would a senior engineer...
take a risk when it's clear
you can't start up the block?
I ask you the question.
Destroy everything? They lost their minds?
You can't turn on the block!
It's a crime.
The day shift refused
to do it, but the late shift agreed.
And they blew up the reactor.
There can be only one reason...
Someone pushed them.
The transcripts of all
intercity calls are in two publications.
My voice appears only after the accident.
In principle he could have destroyed them.
Because the KGB took orders from the Party.
All these fairytales about
a command from Moscow...
that it was planned...
These tales are crafted
by odious and dirty people.
Just such a person is Komarov.
If that call took place,
it ought to be in the archives.
But the calls and times
in the record don't match.
In fact, the tape they
provided us was falsified.
To prove this, you need all the documents.
But till this time the
documents are classified.
About Kopchinski...
We have a saying:
"Feathers are sticking to his muzzle."
He...
He has a record of bad deeds...
significant ones.
If you suspect he's lying, he's capable.
He's capable of lying.
Komarov says there
was a call from Kopchinski.
He and his colleagues
heard recordings of the call.
It wasn't just one call,
it was a continuous conversation...
Kopchinski denies it.
He says he was home asleep.
But there was one man...
for whom this call was necessary.
An all-powerful man.
Were you acquainted with Vasily Shamshin?
Shamshin?
There was no such man.
He's uncomfortable...
Minister of Communications?
He made that call on orders from Shamshin.
But he never expected
that this truth would come out.
We've followed leads
and arranged various threads.
And not once has a thread snapped.
Every time we make an
assumption, it turns out true.
To me it's obvious.
But we'll never find
evidence to convince the doubters.
The kind of evidence that
could stand in a Nuremberg trial.
Because after the Nuremberg trials...
intelligent politicians stopped
leaving that sort of evidence behind.
This is the year our story begins.
This is the year Shamshin's Duga was born.
Shamshin rose through the ranks
thanks to the over-the-horizon radar.
The year they turned on the Duga.
He becomes Minister
of Communications of the USSR.
1984: A new wave of repression.
How did Shamshin feel during this time...
realizing that the Duga didn't work?
Some sort of plan arose within Shamshin.
The most important year for Shamshin.
In March, Shamshin became a member
of the Communist Party Central Committee.
The highest leadership of the country.
And we know that in September
the Committee will give its verdict...
on the most important
act in the life of Shamshin:
The Duga.
We know the story of a call from Moscow.
On the night of the tragedy.
The call that instigated the tragedy.
This was the final experiment
in a series that took place all spring...
up to April 26th.
A day that is located
between March and September.
A day...
that destroyed three countries.
And which saved Shamshin.
Because after the Chernobyl catastrophe...
no commission came to inspect the Duga.
"April 26th"
A tragedy which left
behind deserted and dead lands.
A tragedy which took place
because of a call from Moscow...
to save the career of a Moscow bureaucrat.
Film is not literal,
it speaks of emotions through image.
We have an anti-hero.
I'm the hero...
Shamshin is the anti-hero.
And we have a conflict. But he's dead.
So now I'm going to smash his face.
And then I'm going to his grave in Moscow.
Should I piss on the grave?
No, I shouldn't do that.
On the contrary,
at his grave I should say...
that I am the
only person who wants him alive.
Because I want to look him in the eye.
But if I go to the grave and say that...
without smashing him...
then it seems like I forgive...
the mastermind of
the Chernobyl catastrophe.
But I don't forgive.
When Fedor told me
his theory, my stomach tightened.
I thought about the KGB.
I thought, "There will be a summons..."
Actually, these days
they don't bother with a summons...
They simply kill you.
I'm nervous.
I'm nervous about your film.
Fedor, listen to me.
Don't be a provocateur. That's it.
I think for a filmmaker to
go to Moscow, it's more... more...
Why? A filmmaker can
very easily fit into a KGB prison.
If you accuse anyone who has influence...
then, yes, it's dangerous.
Two years ago my
Chernobyl book came out in Moscow.
I went there to pick up a few copies.
Soon after, it turns out I was poisoned.
I wouldn't risk it.
Mother: I'm constantly worried about Fedor.
I'm afraid for him.
Because they're taking hostages.
His wife is worried,
she doesn't want him to go.
Father: I think it's
better if he doesn't go.
It's dangerous.
He has a Ukrainian passport.
It's a criminal situation.
You never know who you'll meet on the road.
Papa, don't go to Moscow.
There's a war there.
I'm worried.
I think there's a real danger.
Especially in this situation.
The police will come,
find heroin in our suitcases.
"Witnesses!"
"It's heroin, that's 14 years!"
We'll sit in prison and they'll torture us.
Then they'll say,
"He died of a heart attack."
It's not the Russia we used to know.
It's the Soviet Union again.
It's back.
Fedor just called.
He wants me to come over.
He's afraid to speak by telephone.
He doesn't want any of the crew to come.
Hi Fedor, I'm getting in a taxi.
I'll be there soon.
I will put away the KGB colonel's cup.
I have a disclaimer that
must be inserted before the film.
"The authors of this film in no
way intend to injure relations...
between Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia."
Why are you saying this?
Because I was advised to.
Who told you this?
A colonel from the secret police.
He said, "You have a big problem now."
What kind of problem?
The kind of
problem that can get you killed.
He came here. He knew I was here.
He said it didn't happen.
What didn't happen?
The call.
Artem: From Kopchinski?
Fedor: It didn't happen.
He told us to say the call never happened?
Yes.
What are you afraid of?
I'm afraid they will kill my son.
I want to soften all the
sharp moments in the film.
When I shout that Moscow and
the Kremlin and Russia are guilty...
I want that cut entirely from the film.
It seems to me you're selling out.
Fedor: I am not selling out.
Artem: You're selling out.
You complained that
your father sold out in his day.
The film should be
truthful and not censored.
Must you investigate this further?
I want to finish the film.
I understand, but you won't be able to.
The secret police are on to us.
We have to finish shooting.
Do you understand what you are risking?
The life of my son.
There wasn't any call. There was nothing.
Artem: How can that be? It did happen.
Fedor: Yes, it did.
Fedor: Now it is possible
to say with 100% certainty...
"Yes, we are right."
Because they said it didn't happen.
Understand?
My father...
could have lost his job.
And that's why he didn't stand up.
Are you going to Moscow?
No, you didn't listen to me.
I'm stopping all research into this call.
It's finished.
When we started this film...
Fedor was the first to
speak out against the Soviet Union...
against corrupt authorities...
and a system based on the...
use of guilt, threats,
violence and intimidation.
And now I see him
playing by the rules of the Soviet system.
Because this belief...
that we could uncover something...
Fedor instilled this in me..
in all of us.
None of us believed
the Soviet system could return.
He predicted this.
And now he's backtracking,
making concessions and compromises.
And he's become a
traitor to his own ideals.
He'll try to justify himself.
But I think he is a coward.
I don't want to speak on camera...
I'm afraid.
I won't speak out.
Unfortunately, the Soviet
Union is still very much alive.
It's a ghoul...
a creature we didn't beat to death.
♪ Ukraine's freedom has
not yet perished... ♪
♪ ...nor has her glory. ♪
♪ Upon us, fellow Ukrainians,
fate shall smile once more. ♪
♪ Our enemies will vanish
like dew in the sun... ♪
♪ And we too shall rule, brothers... ♪
♪ ...in a free land of our own. ♪
♪ We'll lay down our souls
and bodies to attain our freedom... ♪
♪ ...and we'll show that we,
brothers, are of the Cossack nation. ♪
Glory to Ukraine!
Glory to her heroes!
Please, I appeal to everyone...
don't respond to this provocation.
Citizens! If you approach police...
we will consider it an attack.
Therefore we will take
defensive measures against the attackers.
The government will fall tomorrow.
A government
against its people can't survive.
Lay down your shields.
We've spoken about
Chernobyl as a sort of genocide...
and about the genocide of the 1930s.
We are seeing the same schemes.
Unfortunately we're seeing the same plague.
The undead Soviet ghoul
is pushing us toward World War III.
Out with the bandits!
Get behind us, be careful!
Forward! People, let's go!
The Revolution has enough
people to throw Molotov cocktails.
But throwing Molotov
cocktails is something I don't do well.
I can't do it.
I think we should put all
our strength into the film...
which will glorify Ukraine.
A new Ukraine.
It was a peaceful protest.
I picked up a camera in front of my face...
and shot the faces of riot police.
The first shot hit the camera.
The second shot hit my right hand.
It was all very fast.
And I fell to the ground.
I saw a lot of blood...
and suffering of the people in the street.
This is a big trauma for me and my country.
I hope it never happens again.
Why have I decided to
speak out about our information?
Because fear is a virus...
and it can destroy society just like lies.
If I stay out of
this battle, remain silent...
I'm supporting evil.
It means I become a villain.
Bandits out!
We have an enemy.
That enemy is the Soviet Union...
and those who
are striving to bring it back.
And the Communist Party,
which began with the 1930s genocide...
also ordered the
Chernobyl genocide of 1986.
The Chernobyl catastrophe was no accident.
It was premeditated, planned...
and smoothly executed by Moscow.
Because the Chernobyl
accident was arranged...
to hide the billions...
wasted on an idiotic,
non-functioning weapon.
They used Ukrainian
hands to master a genocide...
when Moscow called and
ordered the staff to explode the reactor.
We know their names.
Ukraine is just the first step
in the rebirth of the Soviet Union.
The second step is World War III.
Thus, we stand here
not for our country alone...
but for all humanity.
Glory to Ukraine!
Glory to her Heroes!
not to use violence.
We're guys with sticks,
are we going to kill you?
The government will fall tomorrow.
A government
against its people can't survive.
Lay down your shields.
The Soviet Union
absolutely wants revenge...
and is pushing the
world toward World War III.
If we don't stop it here...
if we don't stop it now...
it will be too late.
Ukraine is full of ghosts.
Ghosts of the past that
are trying to return to life.
And there is a ghost at Chernobyl...
whose scream was heard around the world.
I want to hunt down these ghosts...
and silence them forever.
Because they want to return to life.
Or drag us to their world...
the world of the dead.
Let's do it with a lot of texture.
That will add a sort of ancient rhythm.
I don't know what to do with this hand.
Paint it the colors of Ukraine?
Yes, paint it Ukrainian.
It's stretching toward...
upward, reaching for each other.
That's it then.
Let's put it further back...
I read Tim Burton's memoir...
he wrote, "The worst
problem on the film 'Big Fish'...
was that the actor had to be naked."
"And the mosquitoes bit."
But we won't have any mosquitoes.
And Chernobyl mosquitoes?
Seeing Fedor, I realized
that he was from another world.
He doesn't fit with
people of this day and age.
My friends say
contradictory things about him.
Some say, "He's crazy, an idiot!"
"He has dirty fingernails.
He doesn't brush his teeth."
But the smarter ones...
say that Fedor is a genius.
And everything he does is theater.
He thinks differently from others.
A little crazy, a little strange...
but always honest.
During the Chernobyl
catastrophe they sent away the children...
so they wouldn't
suffer from the radiation in Kiev.
I remember people were in a panic.
And I was sent to an orphanage...
because my parents couldn't be with me.
I was four years old.
I told the children,
"I'm just here temporarily..."
"My parents are coming back for me."
They said, "All parents
say that, you'll be here forever!"
And I believed it.
I thought I'd be there forever.
It's actually quite a
serious trauma for a child.
And from that time
I've felt strange... different.
Fedor is so tragic.
From childhood he was
a delicate, agitable, gifted boy.
And he spoke like an adult.
His speech was so rich and mature.
Also, he was a pacifist.
When he was six,
he put on a tuxedo and a bowler hat...
and went to the children with a letter...
asking them not to play at war.
He started collecting signatures.
They beat him up.
After that, he
stopped collecting signatures.
When they did an analysis...
they found radioactive
strontium in his bones.
They wanted us to treat him with hormones.
He's suffered so
much, his health especially...
all from Chernobyl.
Fedor had long wanted
to make a film about Chernobyl.
Because it's been more than 27 years...
and the cause of the
explosion is not clear.
I remembered a story from my father...
who was in the Soviet Air Force.
After the explosion,
he flew directly over the reactor.
He said he saw
a giant luminous pyramid there.
And it gleamed in the
rays of the setting sun.
When Fedor heard the story...
he got really excited
and wanted to go there.
He found an old Soviet map...
And where my father
saw the shining object...
"Boy Scout Camp" was written.
Many people tried to dissuade
him, because it's a radioactive zone.
But Fedor ignored them.
Because he felt there was a secret here...
that could shed light
on the Chernobyl explosion.
Na... tio... nal Museum.
And lower?
Cher... no... byl.
We're going to see a
terrible catastrophe...
That happened when I was just your age.
Nobody knows why it happened.
I'm trying to find out why it happened...
and who is guilty.
During the nighttime
they did an experiment.
But the experiment was wrong, forbidden.
They weren't supposed to do it?
No, they shouldn't have.
Is it poison?
Yes, it's poison.
When the explosion happened,
no one thought anything of it.
Maybe some people knew about the radiation.
They put on masks and we were surprised.
Why wear a mask in such good weather?
Life went on as normal.
Many went sunbathing at the river.
Trucks came to wash the streets.
We thought it was for a holiday.
Our children played in that water.
From the station came a
beautiful raspberry-colored steam.
And to see it better,
people gathered at a bridge.
But it turned out the
bridge had the most radiation.
Attention! Attention!
Attention! Attention!
Dear Comrades:
There has been an accident...
at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
The Communist Party
is taking all necessary measures.
However, in order to fully
protect our citizens' health...
children being the highest priority...
It has become necessary to implement...
a temporary evacuation.
As you all know,
a misfortune has recently befallen us.
The government did everything possible
to hide the magnitude of this accident.
I can say with confidence
that they didn't think about the people.
If such a disaster happens...
We must learn a lesson
so it doesn't happen again.
But even specialists
are barred from documents...
that they could be researching.
When Ukraine became independent...
professional historians
had the possibility...
and the need to try to find the truth.
But I went to the
archives and nothing is there.
Everything was disbanded...
scattered about...
and in short, destroyed.
We are on the edge of Kiev.
Beyond the Kiev Sea
is the Chernobyl nuclear station.
This sea is radioactive.
This is the water of
Lethe, the water of forgetfulness.
Because not much time has passed...
and people have forgotten this tragedy.
I remember in my childhood,
after they sent away the children...
they said red wine
protects against radiation.
So let us make an offering...
to the gods of the underworld...
with the blood of this wine...
that we may find the truth.
STOP! FORBIDDEN RADIOACTIVE ZONE
but I asked, was it a crime?
And I answered, there was a trial...
Therefore there was a crime. Correct?
We're speaking different languages...
We have agreed it was a crime.
I have one question:
"Are you a nuclear scientist?"
I'm an artist.
Ðnd simply a citizen of this country.
I'm a lawyer and military worker.
And I think that experts should
discuss and express their opinions.
No, why? Why only specialists?
I'm asking experts their opinions...
If your car breaks down, can you repair it?
Yes, I repair my own car.
It's a hobby of mine.
Interesting...
And nuclear energy,
do you understand it too?
No. But I hope those who
are watching might understand.
We're collecting different views.
People should hear different opinions.
I'm trying to understand
and I'm told it's a mystery...
Veil of Isis, whatnot.
I want to know the truth.
If it was a crime and
people were condemned...
But to this day, there are still
disputes about who is to blame.
Maybe the perpetrators
have not yet been found.
Our town was awesome.
It was clean and green.
We had an incredible number of roses.
And there were a lot of children.
And lots of joy.
We had fantastic provisions.
We had ketchup. Marvelous.
We had chicken.
It wasn't a city, it was a fairytale.
We're now not too far
from the Chernobyl station.
In a destroyed amusement park...
in a dead city, a ghost town...
where everything is steeped in radiation...
and deathly dangerous.
These gas masks
were for the schoolchildren.
But they don't protect against radiation.
And they're all that's left of this school.
In 1976, a radio signal
terrorized the Western world.
The signal was traced to
a small town in the Soviet Union...
Chernobyl.
Home to one of the
largest nuclear reactors in Europe.
And hiding in its shadows...
stands a steel monster...
taller than the Great Pyramid of Giza.
When driving home
from work, on the left side...
a watchtower was visible.
But it was a closed military town.
What was there? Some said a radio antenna.
Others said some kind of interceptor.
They toyed with all kinds of ideas.
But what it really was?
No one knew.
If they said it was
forbidden, then it was forbidden.
No one was even allowed to ask.
Why ask? Just to be punished?
We're at the
epicenter of the Chernobyl catastrophe.
We face a mystery: What was that sound?
And why was the Duga antenna built here?
There is no connection
to the Chernobyl station's energy.
The whole world knows this
sound as the "Russian Woodpecker."
Most people connect this
to an over-the-horizon antenna.
Namely the Duga
next to the Chernobyl station.
Is that possible?
No, it's not possible, for several reasons.
The fact of the matter is,
the Chernobyl radar...
It didn't work, so it
couldn't make any interference.
Second, this antenna
was built to look in a narrow range...
to the south.
Not toward America or Europe.
Could there be a
connection between the Duga radar...
and the accident at Chernobyl?
That's another question, let
me tell you about Stalin instead.
First, everything
people say about his brutality...
is simply impossible.
Because Stalin graduated from a seminary...
and he was meant to take Holy Orders.
Holy Orders.
But he was such an outstanding person...
that when he saw injustice...
he decided to become a revolutionary.
Many people still have a Soviet mentality.
They swore an oath...
they signed their names.
In comes a
foreign journalist, and they clam up.
They start acting
according to their former orders.
What can I tell you about the antenna?
Steel...
Tall...
It hummed in the wind.
They remember the KGB...
about being under constant surveillance.
"God forbid I give away some secret."
Military secret.
Cheers.
Thank you so much,
you gave us valuable information.
I did my best not to give
any valuable information.
Don't flatter me.
I'm a military man.
The object is also military.
And very classified.
Remember you showed
us a list of telephone numbers...
of people who served at the Duga?
But then you didn't
want to give it to us...
when you saw an American with us.
That's right.
I won't give it.
Understand, there are things that...
Are you a Ukrainian citizen?
I am a Ukrainian citizen.
And I am a Ukrainian citizen.
And I will remain so.
There are things you
shouldn't blabber about.
So you don't want
anything to do with Americans?
In this matter, yes.
May I use the bathroom?
Our object was a system
for missile warning.
In 10 years we
detected every Shuttle launch.
All.
And during that time,
every country in the world...
heard the Woodpecker.
This tap-tap-tap-tap,
this 10 hertz signal...
Yes, it resembles a
woodpecker knocking on a tree.
So the Woodpecker
signal came from the Duga?
Well, yes.
I will answer as a radar specialist.
In fact, I'm nicknamed "Antenna Man."
Since the Earth is round...
you will never see all of it.
Because there is a zone of invisibility.
Here you can see, and here you can see.
But here you can't see.
Now, to speak specifically
about the Chernobyl antenna...
this is one of three super-powerful...
over-the-horizon radars.
The antenna cost twice as much
as the Chernobyl nuclear plant.
Around seven billion Russian rubles.
It works because of the ionosphere...
The ray bounces off the ionosphere...
bounces off the
Earth and grabs information.
And then comes back.
It's a curved gun.
The Duga caused a lot of problems.
Not only in Europe, but in the USSR.
Our radar interfered with SOS signals.
So the head technician came...
and changed the frequency.
But at this new frequency...
our signal was unable
to overcome the Northern Lights.
It's difficult for me to speak...
Because what I see is not a human creation.
It's the creation of Empire.
And this pile of metal was
useless from the very beginning.
It was useless before it was even built.
It had no theoretical basis to function...
and so it was doomed from the start.
This iron curtain was the
source of the Russian Woodpecker sound.
And this Iron Curtain...
was known as "The Eye of Moscow."
The "Moscow Eye" next
to an atomic heart, Chernobyl station...
the heart of the Soviet Union.
But this eye was blind.
This antenna didn't work.
Could there be a
connection between this blind eye...
And the bursting of the atomic heart?
Somehow they're connected...
but it's a mystery.
Because for me it was a huge tragedy.
And every tragedy must have a reason.
There are no coincidences.
The collapse of the Soviet Union...
was the greatest
geopolitical catastrophe of the century.
We know that the Soviet system is evil.
It started with evil...
And ended with the greatest
evil, the Chernobyl disaster.
And again there are
victims and will be victims.
And again there will be war.
When Fedor started
researching the Duga antenna...
he really scared me.
I'm afraid because he's
exploring a topic no one has raised.
Because we live in a criminal country.
We are far from a democracy.
We don't have freedom of press.
Of course I'm afraid for my only son.
And don't forget Stalin
physically destroyed our family.
Both of my grandmothers
were sent to the gulag.
The reflections of
the Soviet Union remain...
and these people are still here.
They are among us.
He was my older brother.
Petro.
They came for him during his lessons.
Soviet partisans.
They shot him.
I can't...
It's hard for me to tell this story.
I was a child...
but I loved him more
than anything in the world.
My father had it worst of all.
Someone from the KGB arrived...
"You have to write that your
parents are enemies of the state."
Papa said, "Give me a minute to think."
Then he threw an inkstand at him.
He hid behind the table
and the inkstand crashed into a wall.
Of course, he also
went to the gulag for that.
That was my father.
Fedor's behavior is similar.
This was the Chief Designer.
Video recording, no...
Could you show us
a model and answer a few questions?
Hold on, what kind of questions?
Why are you suddenly interested in this?
Yes! That's it. That's it.
Oh my god, so beautiful.
The Americans always
put us in an interesting situation.
They pulled their
equipment close to our borders...
making it easier to monitor our territory.
And to compensate for
our lack of information...
this system was created...
which was called the Duga.
We were provoked, so we had to respond.
Therefore we created tools like the Duga...
so there wouldn't be a war.
Why were all these documents,
materials, archives destroyed?
You are asking a very delicate question.
Some things I don't understand
and don't want to understand.
And I don't want to talk about this topic.
Why were the Americans
afraid of the Chernobyl radar?
Because our signal could have covered...
all nine US missile bases.
And this was a deterrent.
Our antenna gave the
government 25 minutes...
To make a decision.
What could we have done in only 10 minutes?
Well, they could have said...
"Go hide under a table."
But with 25 minutes,
we can give the command...
to launch our own missiles.
So the antenna was on combat duty...
The Duga never entered combat mode.
Before the accident of April 1986...
we were making our final revisions...
after which we would go to combat mode...
in September, 1986.
Instead, we got an
Order of Closure and Liquidation.
There were only three
or four months until September.
You know that the Duga
didn't work very well, right?
Of course.
And on September 1st, 1986
a commission was to inspect the Duga?
Therefore, the Chernobyl catastrophe
benefited the builders of the Duga?
Of course. Without a doubt.
It could be at the
very least a motivation...
for those responsible for the Duga...
which cost a lot of money...
and in the end didn't work.
It didn't work because it was
to someone's advantage to close it.
In general, there
were so many irregularities.
If you read the official version quickly...
everything looks normal, logical.
But when you start to look deeper,
and ask why this... and why that...
There are a lot
of questions, and no answers.
Maybe if something
so important didn't work...
The best way to hide the failure...
is to blame it on the accident.
If we're searching for who benefited...
we can say that
the builder of the Duga did.
Maybe, yes.
They pushed the
personnel to take a big risk.
In the end, they drove the
reactor into a dangerous state...
And then an
uncontrolled chain reaction began.
Do you know the Soviet punishment...
For misappropriating government funds?
The death sentence.
This statute applied to
whoever wasted those 7 billion.
And to save his life, maybe he
caused the Chernobyl catastrophe.
I'll answer as someone who
has worked 26 years at this station.
I ran the reactor with my own hands.
So I know what I'm talking about.
Your version is extremely fantastical.
Very.
It's clearly fantastical, but...
I think not.
"No because..."?
I would never have
allowed such a thing to happen.
So we can say...
Artem, is the camera running?
So no one claims we edited this...
I'll repeat it in a full sentence.
The theory that Chernobyl
was exploded on purpose...
to hide the non-functioning Duga...
Bullshit.
So much malarkey and fantasies.
First, zombies...
That we blew up Chernobyl station.
Stupidity.
It's a theory.
I'm not a prosecutor, I'm not a journalist.
I'm just a person.
Behind this there must be one person.
And all roads lead to Moscow.
Because the Duga reported to Moscow...
And the Chernobyl
station reported to Moscow.
So, the Woodpecker truly is Russian...
Even though he resides in Ukraine.
And if we connect
this person to the Woodpecker...
we will understand everything.
One day he was
reading and I was watching...
Then it was as if something had stung him.
"I discovered who did it!"
"Look, Artem, look! I found it!"
And then he showed me.
It was the first time I heard his theory.
And I was convinced.
Fedor investigated
all the builders of the Duga...
and found one person who
had the motive and the power...
to cause the catastrophe.
Well, this is in the
realm of conspiracy theories...
Such a person exists.
I'll tell you who he is.
It was one Shamshin.
I ask that we not
mention his name on air...
And is he still alive?
No, he died in 2009.
He started work on
over-the-horizon radar in 1948.
And he was
responsible for the Duga's construction.
And this man...
became Minister of Communications
when the Duga was launched.
The Vice-President of the
Soviet-Cuban Friendship Society...
Soviet Minister Shamshin...
noted that heroic Soviet
support led to the Cuban revolution...
which gave a strong impulse
to the liberation of Latin America.
This shows his significance.
He's Minister and Vice President
of the Soviet-Cuban Friendship Society.
It's important because "Soviet-Cuban
friendship" means "war against the US."
Only America and the
Soviet Union could pull off...
a system as powerful as
the over-the-horizon radar.
And Shamshin insisted on building it.
Shamshin was not alone
in supporting the creation of the Duga.
At the very top, he was alone.
But the physicist Kabanov said...
that it's impossible
to build such an antenna.
So if it came out that it didn't work...
Shamshin would have had big problems?
Of course, big problems.
Is it even technically possible...
if you had the power...
to create such a grand catastrophe?
Well, there are dozens
of ways to blow up the reactor.
It's not difficult.
There is testimony from
a quite respectable person.
Komarov.
I advise you to meet with
him to discuss the matter.
While he is still alive...
I served on the Expert Commission...
of the General
Prosecutor's office of the USSR.
I was head of the commission
for the investigation of the accident.
I had access to all documents
provided to the Prosecutor's office.
I was at the Chernobyl
station during its construction.
I was Deputy Chief
Engineer of Science and Safety.
After this I was sent to Moscow.
And joined the Central Committee
of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Kopchinski, the Head of Atomic Energy,
insisted they proceed with the experiment.
But the reactor was unstable,
working under capacity for a day.
Proceeding with that
experiment was suicide.
There was constant communication between
Kopchinski and the Shift Supervisor.
I talked to a lot of personnel
and they agreed it all hangs on this call.
And it was the cause of the catastrophe.
First of all, I was home, naturally.
Naturally, I was in bed.
My son and daughter are
witnesses that I was at home.
When Kopchinski says
there was no telephone connection...
between his apartment and the station...
it's nonsense.
You can call the station
from any apartment.
Mr. Komarov should
know, if he's such an expert...
That no one can give a command,
not even the General Secretary...
to the personnel of a nuclear power plant.
A Chernobyl engineer can't argue with a
senior official of the Communist Party.
Why on Earth would a senior engineer...
take a risk when it's clear
you can't start up the block?
I ask you the question.
Destroy everything? They lost their minds?
You can't turn on the block!
It's a crime.
The day shift refused
to do it, but the late shift agreed.
And they blew up the reactor.
There can be only one reason...
Someone pushed them.
The transcripts of all
intercity calls are in two publications.
My voice appears only after the accident.
In principle he could have destroyed them.
Because the KGB took orders from the Party.
All these fairytales about
a command from Moscow...
that it was planned...
These tales are crafted
by odious and dirty people.
Just such a person is Komarov.
If that call took place,
it ought to be in the archives.
But the calls and times
in the record don't match.
In fact, the tape they
provided us was falsified.
To prove this, you need all the documents.
But till this time the
documents are classified.
About Kopchinski...
We have a saying:
"Feathers are sticking to his muzzle."
He...
He has a record of bad deeds...
significant ones.
If you suspect he's lying, he's capable.
He's capable of lying.
Komarov says there
was a call from Kopchinski.
He and his colleagues
heard recordings of the call.
It wasn't just one call,
it was a continuous conversation...
Kopchinski denies it.
He says he was home asleep.
But there was one man...
for whom this call was necessary.
An all-powerful man.
Were you acquainted with Vasily Shamshin?
Shamshin?
There was no such man.
He's uncomfortable...
Minister of Communications?
He made that call on orders from Shamshin.
But he never expected
that this truth would come out.
We've followed leads
and arranged various threads.
And not once has a thread snapped.
Every time we make an
assumption, it turns out true.
To me it's obvious.
But we'll never find
evidence to convince the doubters.
The kind of evidence that
could stand in a Nuremberg trial.
Because after the Nuremberg trials...
intelligent politicians stopped
leaving that sort of evidence behind.
This is the year our story begins.
This is the year Shamshin's Duga was born.
Shamshin rose through the ranks
thanks to the over-the-horizon radar.
The year they turned on the Duga.
He becomes Minister
of Communications of the USSR.
1984: A new wave of repression.
How did Shamshin feel during this time...
realizing that the Duga didn't work?
Some sort of plan arose within Shamshin.
The most important year for Shamshin.
In March, Shamshin became a member
of the Communist Party Central Committee.
The highest leadership of the country.
And we know that in September
the Committee will give its verdict...
on the most important
act in the life of Shamshin:
The Duga.
We know the story of a call from Moscow.
On the night of the tragedy.
The call that instigated the tragedy.
This was the final experiment
in a series that took place all spring...
up to April 26th.
A day that is located
between March and September.
A day...
that destroyed three countries.
And which saved Shamshin.
Because after the Chernobyl catastrophe...
no commission came to inspect the Duga.
"April 26th"
A tragedy which left
behind deserted and dead lands.
A tragedy which took place
because of a call from Moscow...
to save the career of a Moscow bureaucrat.
Film is not literal,
it speaks of emotions through image.
We have an anti-hero.
I'm the hero...
Shamshin is the anti-hero.
And we have a conflict. But he's dead.
So now I'm going to smash his face.
And then I'm going to his grave in Moscow.
Should I piss on the grave?
No, I shouldn't do that.
On the contrary,
at his grave I should say...
that I am the
only person who wants him alive.
Because I want to look him in the eye.
But if I go to the grave and say that...
without smashing him...
then it seems like I forgive...
the mastermind of
the Chernobyl catastrophe.
But I don't forgive.
When Fedor told me
his theory, my stomach tightened.
I thought about the KGB.
I thought, "There will be a summons..."
Actually, these days
they don't bother with a summons...
They simply kill you.
I'm nervous.
I'm nervous about your film.
Fedor, listen to me.
Don't be a provocateur. That's it.
I think for a filmmaker to
go to Moscow, it's more... more...
Why? A filmmaker can
very easily fit into a KGB prison.
If you accuse anyone who has influence...
then, yes, it's dangerous.
Two years ago my
Chernobyl book came out in Moscow.
I went there to pick up a few copies.
Soon after, it turns out I was poisoned.
I wouldn't risk it.
Mother: I'm constantly worried about Fedor.
I'm afraid for him.
Because they're taking hostages.
His wife is worried,
she doesn't want him to go.
Father: I think it's
better if he doesn't go.
It's dangerous.
He has a Ukrainian passport.
It's a criminal situation.
You never know who you'll meet on the road.
Papa, don't go to Moscow.
There's a war there.
I'm worried.
I think there's a real danger.
Especially in this situation.
The police will come,
find heroin in our suitcases.
"Witnesses!"
"It's heroin, that's 14 years!"
We'll sit in prison and they'll torture us.
Then they'll say,
"He died of a heart attack."
It's not the Russia we used to know.
It's the Soviet Union again.
It's back.
Fedor just called.
He wants me to come over.
He's afraid to speak by telephone.
He doesn't want any of the crew to come.
Hi Fedor, I'm getting in a taxi.
I'll be there soon.
I will put away the KGB colonel's cup.
I have a disclaimer that
must be inserted before the film.
"The authors of this film in no
way intend to injure relations...
between Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia."
Why are you saying this?
Because I was advised to.
Who told you this?
A colonel from the secret police.
He said, "You have a big problem now."
What kind of problem?
The kind of
problem that can get you killed.
He came here. He knew I was here.
He said it didn't happen.
What didn't happen?
The call.
Artem: From Kopchinski?
Fedor: It didn't happen.
He told us to say the call never happened?
Yes.
What are you afraid of?
I'm afraid they will kill my son.
I want to soften all the
sharp moments in the film.
When I shout that Moscow and
the Kremlin and Russia are guilty...
I want that cut entirely from the film.
It seems to me you're selling out.
Fedor: I am not selling out.
Artem: You're selling out.
You complained that
your father sold out in his day.
The film should be
truthful and not censored.
Must you investigate this further?
I want to finish the film.
I understand, but you won't be able to.
The secret police are on to us.
We have to finish shooting.
Do you understand what you are risking?
The life of my son.
There wasn't any call. There was nothing.
Artem: How can that be? It did happen.
Fedor: Yes, it did.
Fedor: Now it is possible
to say with 100% certainty...
"Yes, we are right."
Because they said it didn't happen.
Understand?
My father...
could have lost his job.
And that's why he didn't stand up.
Are you going to Moscow?
No, you didn't listen to me.
I'm stopping all research into this call.
It's finished.
When we started this film...
Fedor was the first to
speak out against the Soviet Union...
against corrupt authorities...
and a system based on the...
use of guilt, threats,
violence and intimidation.
And now I see him
playing by the rules of the Soviet system.
Because this belief...
that we could uncover something...
Fedor instilled this in me..
in all of us.
None of us believed
the Soviet system could return.
He predicted this.
And now he's backtracking,
making concessions and compromises.
And he's become a
traitor to his own ideals.
He'll try to justify himself.
But I think he is a coward.
I don't want to speak on camera...
I'm afraid.
I won't speak out.
Unfortunately, the Soviet
Union is still very much alive.
It's a ghoul...
a creature we didn't beat to death.
♪ Ukraine's freedom has
not yet perished... ♪
♪ ...nor has her glory. ♪
♪ Upon us, fellow Ukrainians,
fate shall smile once more. ♪
♪ Our enemies will vanish
like dew in the sun... ♪
♪ And we too shall rule, brothers... ♪
♪ ...in a free land of our own. ♪
♪ We'll lay down our souls
and bodies to attain our freedom... ♪
♪ ...and we'll show that we,
brothers, are of the Cossack nation. ♪
Glory to Ukraine!
Glory to her heroes!
Please, I appeal to everyone...
don't respond to this provocation.
Citizens! If you approach police...
we will consider it an attack.
Therefore we will take
defensive measures against the attackers.
The government will fall tomorrow.
A government
against its people can't survive.
Lay down your shields.
We've spoken about
Chernobyl as a sort of genocide...
and about the genocide of the 1930s.
We are seeing the same schemes.
Unfortunately we're seeing the same plague.
The undead Soviet ghoul
is pushing us toward World War III.
Out with the bandits!
Get behind us, be careful!
Forward! People, let's go!
The Revolution has enough
people to throw Molotov cocktails.
But throwing Molotov
cocktails is something I don't do well.
I can't do it.
I think we should put all
our strength into the film...
which will glorify Ukraine.
A new Ukraine.
It was a peaceful protest.
I picked up a camera in front of my face...
and shot the faces of riot police.
The first shot hit the camera.
The second shot hit my right hand.
It was all very fast.
And I fell to the ground.
I saw a lot of blood...
and suffering of the people in the street.
This is a big trauma for me and my country.
I hope it never happens again.
Why have I decided to
speak out about our information?
Because fear is a virus...
and it can destroy society just like lies.
If I stay out of
this battle, remain silent...
I'm supporting evil.
It means I become a villain.
Bandits out!
We have an enemy.
That enemy is the Soviet Union...
and those who
are striving to bring it back.
And the Communist Party,
which began with the 1930s genocide...
also ordered the
Chernobyl genocide of 1986.
The Chernobyl catastrophe was no accident.
It was premeditated, planned...
and smoothly executed by Moscow.
Because the Chernobyl
accident was arranged...
to hide the billions...
wasted on an idiotic,
non-functioning weapon.
They used Ukrainian
hands to master a genocide...
when Moscow called and
ordered the staff to explode the reactor.
We know their names.
Ukraine is just the first step
in the rebirth of the Soviet Union.
The second step is World War III.
Thus, we stand here
not for our country alone...
but for all humanity.
Glory to Ukraine!
Glory to her Heroes!