site.btaDocumentary "Save" by Ukrainian Director of Bulgarian Descent Screened in Sofia

A screening of the documentary Save, co-directed by Ukrainian filmmaker of Bulgarian descent Serhii Zeinalov and Maksym Khotilenko, took place at Sofia’s Central Market Hall on June 7. The event marked the second anniversary of the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP) in Ukraine’s Kherson region.

Based on Zeinalov’s personal story, the film explores the aftermath of this technogenic and environmental disaster. Zeinalov’s grandparents were trapped in their flooded and occupied hometown of Oleshky during ongoing shelling that made evacuation difficult.

Opening the event, Ukrainian Ambassador to Bulgaria Olesya Ilashchuk recalled the consequences of the Kakhovka HPP’s destruction. “Two years ago, on June 6, Russia committed one of the biggest war crimes against nature and civilians,” she said. The explosion was not a mistake, nor an accident; it was a deliberate act of ecocide and environmental terror, leading to one of Europe’s worst technogenic and environmental disasters in recent decades, Ilashchuk said.

She said that the flooding was “like pouring one and a half million truckloads of water on towns and villages all at once.” Over 80 settlements were submerged, homes, schools, hospitals, and farms were destroyed, and the Dnipro River ecosystem lost 70% of its biodiversity, the ambassador added.

Ilashchuk said that the film is a personal diary of those difficult days when Serhii was doing everything he could to save his grandparents from the occupied town of Oleshky. She noted that the filmmaker and his grandfather are Ukrainians of Bulgarian ethnic origin from the Kherson region, adding that this is yet another reminder that the war is not far away. She expressed gratitude to the Bulgarian government, NGOs, and donors for their timely support. She also noted that Bulgaria has endorsed Point 8 of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's peace plan, which calls for immediate protection of the environment. “Thank you for not remaining indifferent," the ambassador added.

Addressing the audience via videolink, Zeinalov said that Save “is not just a documentary - it is a personal family story.” He described how his grandparents survived stranded on the second floor of their home, with four meters of water below, no electricity and no food. “It was a miracle they survived,” he said. “Our film is about more than pain - it is about the heroes, the regular people with big hearts who risked everything to save others.”

Zeinalov added that even though they lost all their possessions, his grandparents are now safe. They recently visited Bulgaria for the first time in 43 years, returning to the land of their ancestors.

Following the screening, attendees also viewed the photo exhibition Stop Ecocide Ukraine, organized with the support of Bulgaria’s Ministry of Environment and Water. Aiming to raise global awareness of the environmental costs of war, the exhibition features 26 images documenting the impact of the Kakhovka HPP’s destruction on people, animals, ecosystems, and infrastructure.