“Blind Death” is a cartoon fairy tale about the need to overcome hatred between people and in society, about the need for forgiveness and unity, as well as about the importance of art in this. Citizens of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus took part in the creation of this work. The Ukrainian cartoonist Natalia Mikhailova, who worked on this project since its inception, is imprisoned in her country “for violation of state security”.
It is an 18-minute musical cartoon based on the eponymous short story by Ukrainian journalist and children’s writer Denis Zharkíkh, which was written in 2014, immediately after the Ukrainian Air Force shelling of the civilian population in Luhansk, and was published first in Ukraine and then in Russia. The main idea of it is that in order to achieve peace it is necessary not to be seduced by military hysteria, media pressure and hatred. It is oriented towards a family audience, aimed at people of different ages and nationalities, defending universal humanist values.
Since its inception the project had the participation of people who responded and supported his idea, and as a result, the cartoon was created by thousands of people, not all of whom are professional artists. All those who participated have their own story: a fifteen year old girl who by the quality of her work looked like a professional with many years of experience, an icon painter, a medical student who gave birth during the project, and several professionals recognized with numerous awards.
Some participants of the project were victims of political repression in Ukraine. From 2023, satirical cartoons, produced by a mysterious “Studio ‘NU’, began appearing on the Internet, which harshly criticized the Zelensky government. In May 2024, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced that it had found in the center of Kiev a “media office” that “conducted information operations with pro-Russian narratives”. Retired Yuriy Zharkikh and cartoonist Natalia Mikhailova were detained, people who had nothing to do with either Studio NU or the production of its satirical cartoons.
The only thing the SBU found on Natalia Mikhailova’s computer was the unfinished work of this cartoon. She is still held in a cell with common criminals, deprived of medical care and basic services because Ukrainian prisons are overcrowded. She is subjected to moral and psychological pressures, she is required to admit what she has not committed, her health has been weakened by prison. Yuri Zharkikh, 82 years old, was also found nothing, except for the confession that he helped Mikhailova with money for this project, for which he sold his own car. The only thing that could be proved were his statements in personal mails that he “hates the Zelensky regime”. Yuri Zharkikh spent six months in an overcrowded cell with 14 people, was nearly killed, deprived of his mandatory medication, and was recently released on bail to receive his medical treatment.
“Blind Death” is an 18-minute musical cartoon based on the eponymous short story by Ukrainian journalist and children’s writer Denis Zharkíkh, which was written in 2014, immediately after the Ukrainian Air Force shelling of civilians in Lugansk, and was published first in Ukraine and then in Russia.
Acknowledgments to the International Public Movement Another Ukraine
