A zone of interest. On 24 February 2022, in the first hours of the full-scale invasion, the military forces of the Russian Federation took control of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The security cameras kept running. What if everything that followed was to be told solely through them? Amid the comings and goings of soldiers, Russian journalists, Rosatom employees and Ukrainian nuclear technicians, absurd behaviors unfold and the banal collides with the horrific. In a place that has witnessed one of humanity’s greatest catastrophes, the planned meets the accidental.

Ukrainian director and artist Radynski, familiar to Riga IFF audiences for Infinity: According to Florian (2022), continues to explore decolonialism and the most brutal facets of humanity. This time, he uses randomness to portray the almost insect-like occupiers as they stage scenes with radiation-tainted bread, lounge around in NASA sweaters and appear unsure of what they are even meant to do in this radioactive zone. There is no narration – everything is shown matter-of-factly, yet Radynski’s acerbic tone is unmistakable; hence, we might call this work a “special cinema operation”. The video materials have been handed over to the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office and may one day be used in war crimes trials seeking justice.