YouTuber arrested after sneaking onto North Sentinel Island to offer Diet Coke to uncontacted tribe
Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, a 24-year-old YouTuber, was arrested by Indian authorities after illegally landing on North Sentinel Island, a protected territory inhabited by the uncontacted Sentinelese tribe.
The incident occurred on March 29, 2025, and marks Polyakov's second attempt to reach the island, after a failed try in January.
Polyakov, who runs a small YouTube channel called Neo-Orientalist with 867 subscribers, is known for visiting high-risk and restricted regions. He previously uploaded content from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. This time, he attempted to reach the Sentinelese tribe, bringing with him a coconut and a can of Diet Coke as offerings.
According to police reports, Polyakov blew a whistle offshore to attract attention, waded onto the island, and spent roughly five minutes on land. He left the items, collected sand samples, and filmed the encounter using a GoPro camera before returning to his boat.
He was arrested on March 31 by Andaman and Nicobar Islands police. Regional police chief HGS Dhaliwal stated that Polyakov was presented before a local court and remains in three-day remand for interrogation. GoPro footage confirmed his illegal entry onto the restricted island.
North Sentinel Island is heavily protected by the Indian government to preserve the isolated Sentinelese tribe, who are known for their hostility toward outsiders. Contact with the tribe is banned, and previous attempts, such as that of missionary John Allen Chau in 2018, have ended fatally.
Polyakov's stunt joins a growing list of influencer controversies involving remote and indigenous communities.
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