Experiencing Interruptions?

Two Tractors Outside Rivne, Ukraine

Years ago, in rural Ukraine, a farmer’s tractor disappeared in the night. Months later, another tractor disappeared from another farm in almost exactly the same way.

Both farmers reported the thefts to local police in the country’s western Rivne region. Links were quickly drawn between the crimes, and two suspects with criminal records were identified.

But despite extensive evidence — including cell phone records, eyewitness testimonies, and even tracks in the road showing how one of the tractors was spirited away — the thieves were never brought to justice.

Instead, local police officers repeatedly solicited payments from the farmers to continue the investigation.

  • Matt Sarnecki
    Director
  • Anna Babinets
    Writer
  • Elena Loginova
    Writer
  • Liliya Protsyshyna
    Writer
  • Anna Babinets
    Producer
  • Matt Sarnecki
    Producer
  • Ilya Magazanin
    Editors
  • Sergiu Brega
    Editors
  • Sergiu Brega
    Graphics
  • Stepan Yurchenko
    Cameraman
  • Dmytro Shypovskiy
    Cameraman
  • Aubrey Belford
    Script copyediting and consulting
  • Joachim Dyfvermark
    Script consulting
  • Antonina Torbych
    Additional Reporting
  • Anna Kalaur
    Additional Reporting
  • Vladyslav Shkolnyi
    Camera Assistant
  • Oleksandr Shevchuk
    Voice
  • Olena Goncharova
    Fact-Checking
  • Andu Radu
    Color Correction
  • Halyna Rudyk
    Assistant Producer
  • Drew Sullivan
    Executive Producers
  • Paul Radu
    Executive Producers
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Web / New Media
  • Genres:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    31 minutes 53 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    August 7, 2019
  • Country of Origin:
    Ukraine
  • Country of Filming:
    Ukraine
  • Language:
    English, Russian, Ukrainian
  • Shooting Format:
    4k
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Matt Sarnecki

Matt Sarnecki is a senior producer at OCCRP and produces documentaries and investigation explainers. His documentary Killing Pavel, about the murder of investigative journalist Pavel Sheremet in Kyiv, Ukraine, won the Investigative Reporters and Editors Medal in 2017 and the DIG Award (Italy) in 2018.

Previously, he produced documentary series featured on the Powder Magazine website and in VICE. Matt received a BA in political science from Columbia University in 2004, and a master’s in journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2013. He held a Fulbright Teaching Assistantship at the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Czech Republic, in 2006-7.

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