This week Ukraine was shaken by the news of the release of the new season of the famous Ukrainian thriller “The First Swallows”. Fans of the series have been waiting for this event for over a year, and now, finally, the TV channel aired the unique project.

“The First Swallows. Addicts” touched upon a whole range of acute social topics: drug and sexual addiction, illegal earnings, double life, differentiation into rich and poor, domestic and sexual violence, the influence of social networks, opinions of others, and the Internet in general, self-acceptance…

The series carried out its social mission together with the National hotline “La Strada-Ukraine” and the educational project #stop_sexting headed by its founder – advisor on human security on the Internet to the Vice-Prime Minister – Anastasia Dyakova. As part of this cooperation, Noviy Kanal launched the social special project “My independence.” This is a separate section on the website with a series of materials devoted to the topics of safety in the world online and offline.

The show runner of “Swallows” Eugene Tunik said that initially it was planned to develop a sequel to the first season, but he soon realized – this idea would not be successful. The lines of all the characters were logically complete, so the team decided to shoot a picture with a completely new plot.

The series is about the deadly game “Swallows,” which is gaining popularity among young people. It has been dubbed online as “the social pandemic of our time. Anonymous people who call themselves “Friends” correspond and encourage teenagers to commit suicide. And if previously it was thought that only children from dysfunctional families fell under their influence, now anyone can be at risk.

The academic year for second-year journalism students begins with an acquaintance with a new teacher, the famous journalist Kira, which uses his own methods of teaching, and a suicide of a classmate. In the process of the investigation, it becomes known that each of the characters is struggling with an addiction. Is it possible to overcome their addictions and not become a victim of an anonymous person who calls himself a Friend?

The themes raised in “The First Swallows. Addicts” so affected society that millions of viewers watched it both on TV and on YouTube. It is maddeningly gratifying that finally in Ukraine they have begun to voice the problems that are usually silenced.