He still wants to make a profit from it: Mishka Polyakov, the American YouTuber who was arrested for offering a can of cola to an isolated tribe on a remote island against all the rules, appears to be putting the footage online after all.
Wednesday, a year after his stunt that became world newsappeared on his YouTube channel The last island part 1 online. It is the first part about his highly controversial attempts to reach India’s North Sentinel Island. It has been forbidden to enter the island since 1996 to protect a primitive tribe of an estimated several hundred people. In the first part, the images of him actually arriving on the island are missing.
Polyakov, from Arizona, informs us by email that they will be shown in part 2. “That will come roughly in two weeks,” the adventurer reports in his short answers to questions from this site via email.
Can of coke
Polyakov became world news at the end of March 2025 when it turned out that he had been on the island to give the primitive tribe that lives there in isolation a can Diet Coke to offer. He was arrested and held in an Indian cell for weeks. Contact with the residents of the island is prohibited, because they can become infected with diseases.
The Sentinelese on North Sentinel Island have been left alone for decades. Modern developments pass them by and they can be aggressive towards visitors. In the past, this even cost the lives of two fishermen and a missionary. From 1996 onwards, no one is allowed on the island, not even the police.
Fine and short prison sentence
Yet Polyakov tried it a year ago, which led to a lot of commotion. He threatened to go to jail for years but confirmed it to this site 2.5 months ago that it remained a fine and a short prison sentence (his pre-trial detention). He also had to delete the recordings he made from his phone and GoPro camera.
But Polyakov would not comment on whether he had any recordings. When asked whether he is not afraid of angry reactions or even sanctions from India if he does broadcast images of his visit to North Sentinel Island, he answers laconically: ‘I have reason to believe that they don’t really care in India. In fact, I have a lot of fans in India.’
The first part of The last island in any case suggests that he still has images of his controversial visit, which should follow in part 2. Part 1 mainly consists of a brief history lesson about other people going to North Sentinel Island and Polyakov’s previous, failed attempts to reach the island. Like when he wanted to sail the last bit in an inflatable kayak, until sharks showed up.
At the end of the video he sails towards North Sentinel Island. And from there we have to wait for part 2.
