This is the story of the Ukrainian soldier Vitaly Markiv, who was acquitted by the court after an unfounded accusation. The defense provided sufficient evidence of his innocence. And President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky called Vitaly’s dismissal a victory for justice.
During the investigation of the circumstances, a documentary project “Wrong place, wrong time” was created. As part of the investigative film, the film crew tested weapons. They tested the prosecution's hypothesis that Markov, having only a Kalashnikov assault rifle, could hit journalists from a distance of about two kilometers. Ukrainian and Italian ballistics experts were present at the test site and commented on the test results.
Using drone footage of the area around Mount Karachun, a 3D relief map was created. It is so detailed that it takes into account how many centimeters trees have grown since 2014. With this map, it becomes clear whether Vitaly Markov could have seen the journalists at the railway crossing in his position, or whether it was impossible.
With the help of the International Documentary Project Team (Cristiano Tinazzi, Olga Tokaryuk, Ruben Lagattolla and Danilo Elia), the film helped turn the tide of the Markiv case in the Italian Court of Appeal.
We want to thank the members of the DroneUA team, Tatyana Kondratenko, Olga Kostyuk, Nadezhda Usik, Sergey Andushenko, who worked on creating a 3D relief map and topographic base using drones. With your help, as a result of your work, a person’s life was saved.
Thank you and everyone involved in the release of Vitaly Markiv.
