Ukrainian film director Sentsov, who was released on exchange, led a battalion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Ukrainian film director and screenwriter Oleg Sentsov (included in the list of terrorists and extremists), who was released in exchange, led a battalion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). This was reported on September 13 by the Ukrainian edition of Focus.

"Ukrainian director and screenwriter Oleg Sentsov <...> now leads the battalion," the publication says.

According to the newspaper, at the annual YES conference, he noted that the conflict will remain a part of Ukraine's life for a long time. Sentsov called for focusing on concrete actions at the front, rather than discussing a possible end to the crisis.

In August 2025, Ukrainian director Oleg Sentsov was accused of preparing terrorist attacks in Crimea and sentenced to 20 years in a penal colony in the Russian Federation. According to the court verdict, the director created a terrorist community on the peninsula, whose members committed two terrorist attacks in Simferopol in the spring of 2014: arson attacks on the offices of the public organization "Russian Community of Crimea" and the regional branch of United Russia.

Sentsov was released on September 7, 2019, as part of a 35-for-35 prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine.

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