Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast - This Dumb Youtuber is Trying To Vlog North Sentinel Island - The Mykhailo Polyakov Story

Episode Date: July 29, 2025

In March 2025, Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, a 24-year-old American YouTuber, was arrested by Indian authorities after illegally landing on North Sentinel Island, home to one of the world’s most isolated tribes, the Sentinelese.

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And stream Paradise on Kulu and Kulu on Disney Plus. So this YouTuber is about to try and make one of the most dangerous vlogs in the world. Now the guy's name is Mikhailo. Mikhailo is 24 years old, living in Arizona, and bro is a YouTuber, and he likes to travel to other countries, particularly countries with dangerous areas, and he likes to just, like, talk to the people there and vlog. But one day, in 2024, he takes it a bit too far. He decides he wants to take another one of his dangerous trips,

but this time he's going to actually do something illegal. He plans to travel a few hundred miles off the coast of mainland India to the restricted territory of North Sentinel Island. And this is actually an aerial photo of that island. Now, this island is remote. Only a native tribe lives there. And there are about somewhere between 50 and 200 people in this tribe. We actually don't know the exact population because it's so freaking isolated.

In fact, very few outsiders have ever really been there. like travelers are barred from ever visiting the place. In fact, it's actually illegal to go within three miles of this island. And because of that, there are very few pictures of the natives, and there's very little footage, like here's something here. And we don't even exactly know what language those natives speak. That's how isolated they are from the rest of the world. But whatever, Mikhailo is determined to go there.

He is going to vlog that place. Now, here's why traveling to that island is so illegal. Basically, it's because of the isolated tribe that lives there. They're called the Sentinelese, by the way. And the Sentinelese live the same way that hunter-gatherers of the old times lived. They use spears and bow and arrows to hunt animals and fish and stuff. And they've cut themselves off from the rest of the world for thousands of years. In fact, back in 1880, a group of armed Europeans went to establish contact with the people of the island,

and they ended up kidnapping a Sentinelese man and a woman. and four kids. And almost immediately, the adult man and woman died. Because they have zero immunity to the diseases from the outside world, like the flu or like measles. So like in theory, one of us could sneeze and accidentally wipe out the whole population. And that is why the government of India forbids anyone from going there. Not only that, because the sentinolese don't want contact with the outside world,

they're known to be very hostile and very dangerous. to anyone who shows up to their island. They don't like outsiders, they don't trust outsiders, and rightfully so. And when like helicopters or fishermen pass by, they get all pissed off and they like shoot arrows at them. And I don't know if you remember this, but back in 2018, an American man did actually visit the island, and the natives there unalived him. It was this American Christian missionary, his name was John Allen. And John Allen came up with this plan to illegally travel to the North Sentinel Island.

Sentinel Island. And there he planned to live among the natives and convert all of them to Christianity. And so he pulled up to this island in a canoe and he could see the natives on the shore and they're like hostile as fuck. And so he retreated. But then John Allen went back a second time. This time he actually made it onto the island and he tried to communicate with them. But then one of the sentinolese shot an arrow at him and it almost hit him. It actually stuck into the Bible he was holding. So then he retreated again. But then he went back a third time. And this time, the Sentinelese shot his ass up with arrows.

And he died and the natives buried him there on the shore. My point is, the Sentinelese aren't messing around. This is a big deal. And they don't want anyone on their island and neither does the government of India. Now, back to Mikhailo. Mikhailo has a different plan. Bro is like, Sentinel Island? That sounds like the perfect thing to vlog.

And so he flies from the U.S. all the way over to these other islands in the Indian territory really close to North Sentinel Island. And you can see on this map, this is roughly where he's staying, and there is North Sentinel Island right there. So it's relatively close. So he gets there and he gets a hotel and he gets an inflatable kayak, and I assume he buys it when he gets there. I don't know how else he could have got it.

But then this dude thinks he's going to put this inflatable kayak in the water and get to the island that way. However, the local hotel staff sees him and they stop him before this kayak even hits the water. They're like, no, bro, you can't go to that island. It's illegal. And so his plans are foiled and he has to go all the way back home. But Mikhailo isn't done yet. He is determined to get on that island and vlog the Sentinelese. Like, I mean, just think of all the likes he'll get, bro.

And so a few months pass and it's now 2025. And he tries again. He flies back to India near North Sentinel, but this time he has sort of a new plan. Instead of an inflatable kayak, he's going to use a little motor boat. Here's actually a picture of it. The problem is, as you can see, this little boat doesn't actually have a motor. And so now he's either looking for a motor or he's waiting for a motor, I'm not sure which, but while he's waiting on that boat to get a motor, he somehow gets a ride up north to Baratang,

where there is a local tribe. And he vlogs that tribe, which interacting with that tribe is also illegal under Indian law, but he does it anyway because Mikhailo, he just doesn't care about the rules apparently. He's like, fuck the police. Now, where he goes after that is a bit unclear. But two months later, he ends up back in Port Blair, where he was staying before. And he finally gets a motor, which he fits to that boat at some workshop. And now that his boat has a motor, he's ready to go to North Sentinel Island.

And so he puts that little boat in the water and he takes off. Now, North Sentinel is relatively close on the map. But from the beach where he's at, it's actually about nine hours away. And so he's got to use his GPS to navigate. And this dude travels 25 miles or about nine hours in this little boat before he ultimately reaches the island. And so he gets there and he gets on the beach and he doesn't know where these sentinalees people are.

Like it's a big island. And so he starts blowing a whistle like an asshole trying to get their attention. But unfortunately for him, he doesn't get any response. Just silence. And the whole time he's there, he's like vlogging himself on his GoPro and he's like, no one has landed here before. I am incredible. Which, by the way, neither of those things are true.

And so he stays on this beach and he's blowing this dumb whistle for about an hour, but he still doesn't see any native. No one ever comes out. I guess they aren't going to fall for his rage bait. And so, poor Mikhailo realizes that this whole thing is a bust, and he gathers some sand to take back with him as a souvenir, and he leaves a can of Diet Coke and a coconut on the beach as an offering to the tribe. Like that Diet Coke is going to convert them. Like these Native Islanders are going to drink the Diet Coke and suddenly be like, oh, oh, is this what we've been missing all these years? Get out of here. Anyway, once he's back in his boat, he spends a few more hours, a little offshore, blowing his whistle, trying to get the islanders attention, but no one ever appears.

And so, ultimately, he calls it a day, and he starts heading back to the beach of the main island where he left. And I assume it takes him another nine hours to get back. And he lands on the beach, but at some point, on his journey, he was spotted by some local fishermen. And they don't like what he's doing. I mean, they know that visiting the island is illegal. And so they immediately call the police. And so, bam, police find him and they arrest him. Here's his mugshot.

And from what I read, he actually hasn't been to trial yet, but he is looking at up to five years in Indian prison.