Tourist who ‘visited isolated tribe with can of Diet Coke’ is held in jail

Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov was arrested after he travelled to North Sentinel Island last year

An American tourist accused of visiting a largely uncontacted tribe and leaving them a can of Diet Coke has been held in custody after his application for bail was denied.

Youtuber Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov was first detained in March 2025, two days after police say he set foot on North Sentinel Island, part of India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and an archipelago nearly 750 miles east of the mainland.

The island is home to the Sentinele...