YouTuber posts video bringing Diet Coke to North Sentinel Island tribe after only getting a fine

by

YouTuber Mykhailo Polyakov recently posted a video showing his trip to North Sentinel Island, where he attempted to deliver a Diet Coke to the tribe that lives there. He faced only a small fine for his actions, avoiding a potentially lengthy prison sentence.

On May 22nd, Polyakov posted another video from his trip, showing him visiting North Sentinel Island and attempting to share a Diet Coke with the tribe as a way of introducing them to modern items.

According to 7Sur, instead of going to prison for several years, Polyakov only received a fine. He was also asked to leave India and hand over his video footage, but he was able to retain it.

Even though he didn’t actually meet the tribe and the video stops with him reaching the island, he believes he wasn’t endangering them.

He explained that he’d been vaccinated against both the flu and measles and hadn’t wanted to be exposed to either. He also pointed out that you can’t get sick simply by being near someone who is ill.

YouTuber tried giving North Sentinel Island Diet Coke

In 2025, Polyakov traveled to North Sentinel Island without permission, following a long effort to contact the island’s secluded Indigenous people.

Alexei Polyakov, an explorer famous for traveling to risky and off-limits locations like Afghanistan under Taliban rule, had long wanted to visit North Sentinel Island.

After a nine-hour journey across the water in a small rubber boat, he finally reached a safe island. He then tried to signal for help by blowing a whistle and left a coconut and a can of Diet Coke as markers.

Survival International, an organization dedicated to defending the rights of Indigenous communities, strongly criticized the YouTuber’s actions, calling them both dangerous and foolish.

He was arrested two days after sharing details of his trip. He was initially charged with illegally entering a restricted tribal area, which carries a potential prison sentence of up to five years. Ultimately, he only had to pay a fine of 15,000 rupees, equivalent to about $161.

The YouTuber explained he left the Diet Coke hoping to show future people what life was like in our time, essentially sending a piece of our civilization forward thousands of years as a kind of gift.

North Sentinel Island’s dangerous history

Indian law prohibits anyone from making contact with the Sentinelese people, and authorities stated that Polyakov’s actions put them at significant risk.

This tribe lives on a small, forested island and hunts with spears, bows, and arrows. They’ve historically avoided contact with the outside world, and have sometimes reacted with violence when approached. An earlier, hostile encounter is said to have sparked Polyakov’s desire to visit the island.

In 2018, American missionary John Allen Chau died after being shot with arrows. He had traveled to North Sentinel Island illegally, with reports suggesting he intended to convert the island’s inhabitants to Christianity.

Officials eventually stopped trying to retrieve Chau’s remains because they worried additional attempts could put people at risk or anger the Sentinelese people.

Two Indian fishermen were also killed in 2006 after drifting too close to the island.

India generally avoids contact with the tribe, with occasional visits limited to leaving gifts like bananas for them.

Read More

2026-05-26 17:49