The fate of the police officer who saved the journalists of the film "20 Days in Mariupol" and took evidence of Russian crimes from the occupied city has been revealed

Ukrainian policeman Volodymyr Nikulin, who was taking the director of 20 Days in Mariupol Mstyslav Chernov and journalist Yevhen Malolietka out of the occupied Donetsk region, has not changed his vocation and is still working as a law enforcement officer. It is known that along with the video evidence, he was also saving his family, which is why everyone in the car was in incredible danger while passing through each of the 15 checkpoints on the way.

Despite being seriously injured in the lung during the Russian shelling of Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, the law enforcement officer decided to continue his career as a police officer and, according to the National Police of Ukraine on Facebook, the man was appointed deputy head of the documentary support department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Donetsk region.

"Police officer Volodymyr Nikulin is not only the protagonist of the Oscar-winning film 20 Days in Mariupol, but also its savior. The law enforcement officer helped the film crew to escape and take the footage out of the captured city. 20 hours in a broken-down car in the occupied territory... He was carrying journalists along with his family. They passed through 15 enemy checkpoints. It's scary to think what would have happened if the occupiers had found videos under the seats with evidence of the murders of Mariupol residents by the Russian occupiers," the National Police said.

According to the law enforcement agency, the man has been on the force for 30 years. First of all, he was stationed in Donetsk, but with the outbreak of war in 2014, he was relocated to the then relatively peaceful Mariupol, where, after February 24, 2022, he met two journalists and became the main character in their Oscar-winning film 20 Days in Mariupol.

"He was wounded during the Russian shelling of Pokrovsk when I was helping the wounded. A fragment pierced his lung. The policeman calls on the international community to remember the crimes of the Russian invaders and reminds that these 20 days in Mariupol were only the beginning. The occupation forces are still ruthlessly destroying Ukraine every day," the National Police reminded.

It should be reminded that the film "20 Days in Mariupol" directed by Mstyslav Chernov won the first Oscar in the history of independent Ukraine in the nomination "Best Documentary". The film depicts the events of the occupation of Mariupol in the first 20 days after the start of the full-scale invasion. However, the fragment with Ukraine's victory was cut from the TV version, stating that it was necessary to do so due to alleged time constraints.

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