American YouTuber arrested for bringing Diet Coke to isolated Indian island

Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News on Apr 5, 2025

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An American YouTuber was arrested by Indian authorities after he allegedly snuck onto a remote island untouched by the modern world, bringing with him a coconut and a can of Diet Coke as an offering for an isolated tribe that lives there.

Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov is accused of using an inflatable boat to illegally travel to North Sentinel Island, a land mass located in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago 750 miles from the Indian mainland. All outsiders — Indians and foreigners alike — are banned from traveling within 3 miles of the island, a rule implemented in a bid to protect its native Sentinelese tribe, believed to be made up of 150 people.

Polyakov, armed with his GoPro and gifts, arrived on the northeastern side island around 10 a.m. on March 29, according to the police. While it’s not believed he made contact with the Sentinelese, the 24-year-old YouTuber recorded video and collected samples before leaving behind his offerings and departing the island, Jitendra Kumar Meena, head of criminal investigations for the Andaman and Nicobar Police, told CNN.

A local fisherman spotted Polyakov as he sailed back to the mainland. He was arrested two days later when he returned to Port Blair, the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He has not yet been charged.

“We are aware of reports of the detention of a U.S. citizen in India,” said a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, without providing further comment on the matter.

The incident comes seven years after an American missionary, John Allen Chau, traveled to the same island with a bible. He was fatally shot with arrows by tribesman awaiting him on the shoreline. His body has never been recovered.