Five members of Dovbush film crew killed in action on Ukrainian battlefield, seven missing - director

Five members of the team that worked on the action movie Dovbush were killed in action as part of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, and another seven went missing at the front.

Film director Oles Sanin reported this in an interview with Detector Media, Ukrinform reports.

"If we talk about the Dovbush film crew, five (of its members - ed.) were killed in action, seven went missing, and 70 are currently serving in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other elements of the Defense Forces, including actors, stuntmen, film technicians, artists, and cameramen," says Sanin.

In particular, the cameraman, Serhiy Mikhalchuk, serves with the Armed Forces, in a reconnaissance unit, currently deployed on the front line in Kursk region. Two actors are part of the 68th Oleksa Dovbush mountaineering brigade.

He said that he and his team are still actively involved in promoting the film, and emphasized that there are issues with the development of Ukraine’s film industry. Despite the fact that Ukrainian cinema is in demand and theaters are full, the government has practically stopped funding it.

"There is now a battle for the budget so art funding has decreased several times," he noted. Sanin also added that, when asked what his next film would be, his answer is: "My next film is our victory."

Dovbush is a Ukrainian adventure-historical blockbuster directed by Oles Sanin. The plot is based on folklore legends about a militia leader Oleksa Dovbush. The events are unfolding in the Hutsul region in the 18th century, where Dovbush, along with his brother Ivan, in pursuit of justice and a free life in his native land, leads a rebellion against the local nobility. With the budget of UAH 120 million, this has become Ukraine’s most expensive film production to date. The movie gained over half a million viewers in the war year of 2023, making UAH 68.27 million at the box office.