Hotsunlight

Set in May and June 2014 in Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine, the film follows Vladislav Novozhilov, a veteran of the Soviet–Afghan War, as he attempts to evacuate his family from the conflict zone amid the outbreak of the war in Donbas. After becoming separated from them, he arrives in Luhansk, where his former comrade Pavel Gritsai, now a separatist commander, helps him secure work as an ambulance driver. Throughout the film, Ukrainian forces are portrayed as indiscriminately shelling civilian areas in Luhansk Oblast. After Novozhilov's family and Gritsai's parents are killed in one such attack, Novozhilov joins the separatist forces. In the film's climax, Wagner Group fighters arrive and destroy a Ukrainian armored column before transferring the captured equipment to separatist fighters. == Cast ==

Filming took place in Yevpatoria and Simferopol in Crimea. The building of the Simferopol Municipality was used as a filming location for scenes depicting an administrative building. The film was produced by Paritet-Film and Aurus. and was later broadcast on Russian television channel NTV on 18 August 2021. In April 2022, the Ministry of Culture of Kyrgyzstan banned screenings of Hotsunlight, along with the Russian films ' and ', citing the international situation and Kyrgyzstan's neutral position regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine. == Reception ==

The film received mixed reviews in Russian media. Dmitry Sosnovsky of Rossiyskaya Gazeta praised the film as a "heart-rending" and unflinching depiction of war. Maksim Voronov of Regnum positively reviewed the film's emotional intensity but criticized its ending as weak and disconnected from the rest of the narrative. Other commentators criticized the film as propaganda. Film critic Victor Matizen described it as an example of militarist propaganda and argued that it manipulated facts in order to portray Ukraine as solely responsible for the bloodshed in Donbas. == See also ==