Glory to Ukraine!
Glory to the heroes!
I have made the decision
to carry out a special military operation.
We will light this fire with the tears of Russian mothers.
Anyone who tries to interfere with us
or threaten our country and our people
should know that Russia’s response will be immediate.
Fuck Putin!
Rejoice!
Every year for the past two decades,
a bunch of young people and hippies
have gathered in the mountains of Ukraine
to take psychedelics, dance around the fire,
and spread a message of peace.
Rejoice!
This year, because of the war, the festival nearly didn’t happen.
But when they realized that this could be the last chance
for many of them to party before being conscripted,
they figured, “Fuck Putin, we’re doing it anyway,”
to take the chance to have a youth far away from Russia's artillery.
[HIPPIES VS. PUTIN UKRAINE’S WARTIME FESTIVAL]
[SHYPIT]
The week-long Shypit Festival has no official organizers.
You have to hike through a waterfall to reach the location,
and details are worked out over Telegram.
There is this cruel, aggressive war going on now.
Human energy isn’t limitless.
[Partying at Shypit] is not treason.
It is rest to get your strength back.
Edik is a recently conscripted soldier
who has decided to come to Shypit on his day off.
What’s it like being conscripted?
Like summer camp.
Wake up, eat, take the gun,
walk for 12 hours, come back,
eat, go to bed.
And same cycle the next morning.
Shypit is a safe place.
You often can’t find such a vibe at other festivals.
Every summer, I come to the glade here
and live here with my friends.
I love this place very much.
Glory to Ukraine. Glory to the heroes.
Bro, hello!
—The uniform suits you. —Thanks.
Fucking hell, it’s so beautiful here!
What is this flower called?
‘Chumbarumba.’
During the day at Shypit,
it’s common to take psychedelics and wander around
some of Eastern Europe’s most beautiful scenery ...
What’s that peaky mountain over there?
There?
It really looks like a boob.
laughing at nature ...
A frog.
forgetting about the war.
Fuck off.
A blue slug, fucking hell.
Fuck.
It’s yin and yang.
Well, I think people come here
to take a breath of fresh air.
Even when there was no war,
routine life would make us come here, sing songs,
smoke, and eat something,
and even more so in wartime.
It’s just calm here.
Nature itself helps me.
It’s great to experience the same energy flow with all these people.
It helps to recover emotionally.
But this Shypit is different.
Just as people are starting to relax,
the conscription officers turn up.
Sorry, but you can’t film the military here.
Delete this, please.
They tell us not to film them,
but their presence affects the entire festival.
Yes, the enlistment officers were here too.
They were walking around,
and I offered them to trade with me for a dried fish.
There was one guy,
the enlistment officer was chasing him like Scooby-Doo.
Ecosexuals, let’s unite!
He was running around the second meadow naked
swinging his thing and screaming that he wouldn’t be drafted.
People are trying to relax.
We have soldiers who are trying to recover here.
I decided to protest and scare them away,
so I ran after them.
Some are told they need to arrive at the conscription office
the next morning.
What time tomorrow?
11 a.m. precisely.
So we’ll be there at 11 a.m. precisely, right?
Not really. Maybe we’ll cross the border instead.
Clearly, [the conscription officers] ruin the mood,
but oh well.
It’s my first time here,
but already I have to leave and go to the induction center.
I have health issues,
and I have no military experience.
So I’m hoping for common sense.
So we went down to the meadow,
and the enlistment officer approaches us
and says, “Your documents,”
and this and that, so we gave them documents,
and they issued drafts for us.
Three months of the recruitment center,
and then to the front line.
Yes, I’ve heard, we had cases
where guys just burned their summons in the bonfire.
Mezhyhirya military office, your documents, please.
Sure, just a second.
Here, I actually have one.
I stuck it here like a memento.
Putin, why the fuck did you come here?
Pack your things and get lost ...
But despite their irreverence, most people here are keen to fight.
In fact, they may be the first hippies who want to go to war.
They are for peace, flowers, and kittens.
And I am for Ukraine.
I don’t want my country to be someone else’s.
But one sick idiot lost his mind a little,
and he decided to make a mess.
When the war began, I was back home, in Kharkiv.
I couldn’t believe that it happened.
I’ve been an orphan since I was nine.
My mom died.
And then my dad died too. I grew up in an orphanage.
That’s why nothing is keeping me. I have no job because of the war.
That’s why I was very glad to go to the induction center.
Is there anything you miss?
Yes, I miss my cat.
In Kharhiv, I have a cat.
I took care of her. I loved her.
I miss my nephews, my sister ...
I’m going to get upset a little.
Neither war nor Putin can stop us from coming to Shypit and relaxing.
Everything is possible in Ukraine because it’s a democratic country.
How do you breathe here?
Fucking calmly.
Ukraine above all!
Russian warship, go fuck yourself!