in soviet times cossacks were oppressed after the iron curtain collapsed their culture began to flourish again and putin officially integrated them into the russian army this school is publicly funded but let me. i expect our president to hold the country together and ensure our welfare system missed. today is most important duty is the security of our country and must see to it that there is peace in our nation. because what's happening at our borders frightens us. any. grigori and his fellow pupils have the same curriculum as in other russian schools they study everything from math to literature but here there's a special focus on history specifically the history of the cossacks because look at

. what i said not for what. a good one because they're good for the cossacks your head covering as a question of honor. our forefathers only removed it to pray when they entered a church or were communing with god. just. then across it died on the battlefield and he was never buried with his casket. just to move that it was always brought to his widow. to be the one if you will that. along with the uniforms and weapons pupils are also told about their forefathers heroic deeds grigori and his friends are proud of these stories. but discuss the venue because even the cossacks played

a key role in almost all the wars. intermission of boise were the 1st to go into battle. it's because of them that russia was so powerful gravity could. so at the school they also put theory into practice they reenact historical battles to internalise heroic fields from bygone days. this was a guy that's come here. for school director vitali it's an indispensable exercise. but the school go boom what we've read isn't enough we have to put on the uniforms of our forefathers and use their weapons and march for kilometers in the same conditions you'll meet you killing mutely we have to withstand cold and snow storms for war that's the only way to learn our history you can though your numbers but. still.

was. after an hour of drills in temperatures of minus 15 degrees celsius the cossacks students can finally warm up but before they eat they have to pray. oh. shit. i was. like you're saying it's a big issue it's a commotion just me i want to share this adventure with my comrades and i say if you ever need me i'll help them out but i feel connected to them and perhaps will serve in the same regiment. had me for fitness. the older students are doing bodybuilding their big role model is glad i'm here

putin. now i think it is good in a strong man for you. and usually yes he has a strong character this is him your slow speed physically and mentally strong. must just one of the saudis even a martial arts master. just uses the word system that's how you can lead a country of 150000000 people you know the word the decision and he can help our country advance and develop which it was there was. years of but i don't see anyone who can equal him. good or replace him as president. right. like every weekend grigori is packing his things. tomorrow he's going home it's a 200 kilometer trip. he

lives in a small town of some 8000 people in this house. and it's just so much. i miss you too so. it's. very gory as parents are divorced. his mother yelena works in a medical lab and earns around 300 euros a month when her son comes home she lets him sleep in the only bad. it is it was my brother my brother. he's a soldier in a special forces unit it's nice to know really and he's my role model. that's what a real man and soldier should be like the beach. idea the way you approach the chili to. yelena does worry about her boys but her love for her country is paramount. and the most important thing is that my sons defend our nation.

and they must be prepared to sacrifice themselves for their comrades if necessary as it is that i've raised my sons to be real men. because. she thinks putin is a good president. he supports the revival of also talks in has had many churches built for us cossacks that's imposed and. since putin has been in power the russian orthodox church has enjoyed a noticeable revival. in the last 2 decades around a 1000 churches have been restored or rebuilt each year. many were destroyed during stalin's rule. since 201165 churches have been erected in moscow alone another 150 are in the planning. the idea is for every muscovite to have a house of worship within easy reach. the

moscow patriarchate has even been offered the city's green spaces as building sites . the conflict has erupted between residents and church leaders over the top of the park in northern moscow. on the one side or priests and the faithful who are staking their claim by holding regular masses here. on the other side are angry locals who don't want to lose their park. poverty or fairness hotshot is the group's spokeswoman for 2 years she's been fighting to have the construction stopped or at least postponed. stuart are you just were there are already 4 churches in this district this would be the 5th why do they have to destroy the park when there are already so many

people. recently natasha and her friends were attacked by a group of thugs. i nearly got into someone who was punched in the head who gave me a black eye and broke my bra top of the post generally because i filed a police report iris. seems threats will kill you in the name of our faith looks like you're on. the other protesters were beaten up too but to date the police have stood idly by you know i give out so i want to ask you if many of us were attacked and injured by s.s. type thoughts yet nothing was done about it. why it was doing you would. meet. me. and.

the group which calls itself 40 times 40 is protected by the authorities. it acts on behalf of the orthodox church the name 40 times 40 refers to the $1600.00 churches that were said to exist in moscow before the revolution former hooligans and martial artists comprise the armed wing of the orthodox church. the group holds president putin in high esteem and claims to act in russia's interest these scenes show 40 times 40 s violent intervention at turf a young couple. and their own way they demonstrate the growing power of the russian orthodox church. we meet members of the group. one of its leaders invited us to a church. in the basement there practicing martial arts beforehand they also pray here.

symphony of welcome. to the. voyager line of the race. very soon to say the city it's a myth or the plea gets us to with what a player can be seen as a mini flip national solution it doesn't the group is comprised of a colorful mix of students police officers and i.t. experts like. twice a week they gather here to train after work. for the faculty so let's go. first and keep moving. really you know. what tells us that to defend their conservative faith they need to be physically fit. single source articles with cigarettes and it will be our emblem is up here that there is an orthodox knight

who defends the russian church with a sword in a field so it's a good thing for us long it's there to get over it or push the world so so my beloved around us of the orthodoxy in our country are important to us we're going to see alters the notion you are seeing. during the soviet era such emblems were forbidden. now they're being used to win the faithful respect for bush and those dives i should say so i we have to protect our members in our cathedrals i think if someone attacks us or makes fun of holy things then we have to try to defend them with a book in which we must defend the thing of the middle of the river that's the shock of the. people. over time 40 times 40 have made themselves into sponsible for. us fortunate that there is more taking on more and more duties at 1st we only defended holy sites or she just said that now we also help with the patriarchs

church services school because they are for that. on the same evening 40 times 40 will be on duty at a ceremonial mass attended by then prime minister dmitri medvedev. the cathedral of christ the savior moscow's largest cathedral is heavily guarded only invited guests are allowed and. i must say that this is the invitation. it's pretty needed to get in. over i'm going to turn out almost i believe where i got it that's a secret she did he used to work hid. with . my chum and his friends don't need an invitation. around a dozen people from their group are in attendance. officially they're here as

stewards were you know for sure we're like crazy when you think relations were what i. was the cathedral is full of security personnel. the church service is being. it live on television. the. then prime minister dmitri medvedev has come to hear patriarch kirill sermon in person. the. trochee. presidency is a good omen. of the. culture of russia starting here somewhere which our best times were always when political power in the church were united the some little as long as this alliance lasts nothing can

happen to us of this star nation with the rights. that he had of us here to represent latin their puton who is attending a celebration in st petersburg. struggled like it all monk across we christians like it that couldn't is an orthodox believer it shares that he supports the church and that's very valuable the most of all should someone. in spite of their violent methods and his friends are welcome here. 40 times 40 enjoys the support of the church and likely that of the authorities to. at least that's the opinion of the demonstrators protesting against the construction of the church in moscow's tough young the park. the attacks against them were never investigated. and natasha and yet again he have been targeted again

and again. as i will bowl got a car almost nonstop it was in the middle of the night we suddenly heard someone sawing at our door of the interview truck but not since you were taking my husband opened it and 15 masked men stormed in and pointed their guns at us. the bar will be to the several special units were involved in searching our house including the secret service is this the goods you wish to see a saw they were all after us. yevgeny and 8 other activists each received unwelcome visitors who were accompanied by t.v. crews. clearly these home searches were meant to serve as warnings. but since you have danny began receiving death threats over the internet he now

fears for his life. i want to know when this will come talk to me one guy from 40 times 40 wrote that he's digging a grave for me in the park and that he plans to bury me there. who will share with you when i went to the police they said come back when you're dead we'll cut a little bit of each. but death threats are no laughing matter in russia. journalists lawyers and politicians have all been victims of deadly attacks. many still remember the assassination of opposition politician boris nemtsov just steps from the kremlin. sub served as deputy prime minister of russia under boris yeltsin. he later criticized the corruption under vladimir putin and. the funeral procession from that soft turned into a protest march against putin. but the russian president denied any responsibility for the killing. of 52 year old engineer wants to make sure the murder isn't

forgotten. with the street i wrote a poem for now i'm sorry. in full. the public should be your reward for telling the truth that was getting hit with 4 bullets that were about to go. like boris nemtsov hopes that post communist russia would develop into a democratic society. he's never belonged to a political party included. but he's protesting against what he views as a politically motivated murder. there are people at the top who can contract their subordinates to murder opposition leaders. of today were governed by terrorists. once a week holds a night long vigil. his daughter and son in law worry about him. or

come back safe and sound each time genesis you say that many call us from the police station to come get you truly are no the police department well. exactly and that's not the only danger yes. but even numerous arrests haven't dissuaded. on this monday once again spend hours in the cold to keep the memory of one of lattimer putin's most vocal critics alive. 50 kilometers to reach the site of the murder the bolshoi mosque for at ski bridge near the kremlin.

they asked you to cool how long have you been married just me home has not much of cold in the news that was ok we were a bit late anyways. together they've created a modest memorial. just one little just one minute to go. to themself was murdered at 11 31 pm. what state. they observe a minute of silence in front of the walls of the kremlin. heroic ill near it heroes don't die the only earth give you only earth. a few passers by stop to express their support he wasn't killed because he was

against. against bolton it's so well for very clear. and everybody knows who killed him. except our judges. that's a very sad story very sad story for all of the 5 chechens acting as contract killers were jailed but there's been no investigation into who ordered the hit. i'm not upset sure that i'm in the safe when i speak. with her to start on either the site is cleaned very often to drive would be protesters away. ilya and his friends take turns guarding the memorial. 7 days a week around the clock. time

and again their vigil has been attacked by ultranationalists one of them struck down told us husband. the future of the help was golems a man came up to evolve and you don't like putin do. you want to be told this that you don't own sid why should i like him i think then the man his him and read all. this all i. live on was taken to the hospital where he died of heart failure. since then his wife has attended the vigil on her own. less than 3 years after numb soft assassination another opposition politician was prevented from taking part in the russian presidential election. protesters chanted

down with putin. alexei novell name made a name for himself lobbying against corruption he planned to challenge gooden in the 2018 election but was barred from running due to a conviction for a legit embezzlement. convinced the kremlin leadership fears him. i asked. her. at this rally was arrested and held for 8 hours authorities said the rally hadn't been approved. and supporters were furious and chanted russia without putin ah ah. yes. ever i was feeling but still here richard because it destroyed our

country. iraq 'd and. russia without. knowing. you. don't with the saw our. wasn't going to govern its own side on those that you'll get out of the city official today who has the newts are just what else can you call someone who's been in power for almost 20 years. that's not. to say that i russia has degenerated into nothing more than a futile country that's ruled with bayonets clubs and crossers. yvonne is just 16 when a kid loves to vent his anger in front of the windows of the kremlin but hundreds of police officers are blocking the way. with.

what use is unfortunately putin's one again today because there aren't enough of us . during his 19 years in power plant amir putin has eliminated his most dangerous opponents. his united russia party holds close to 3 quarters of the seats in the state duma. one of putin's most faithful m.p.'s is fatality malone a. he's the architect of russia's gay propaganda law which has cost many teachers their jobs. so that means that you cannot. precious self to an infant saying that.

that's sodomy so the me is a normal way of life that's what it's absolutely assured by this majority of versions so we put this tradition into legislation. the gay propaganda law was passed almost unanimously with just one abstention. the european court of human rights has ruled that discriminatory. malone of comes from st petersburg the former russian capital is also the birthplace of latin near pruett. long known as russia's window to the west of st petersburg is home to many sexual minorities. but gay bars aren't recognisable from the outside. they don't advertise or fly rainbow flags.

in a modest apartment on the edge of the city lives a man who is waging his own personal war on homosexuals. he's a jeweler by day. but at night he takes on the role of a criminal investigator he tracks down. using the internet we relay what she didn't know who had him and if i see teachers on a gay or lesbian website then i find out where they work and contact the interior ministry if you are not on their legal action is taken against them when you would have so sometimes they just quit on their own. to more doesn't require much evidence one photo on the net is enough. what you get is that there was a look at this music teacher. she's pictured here with her girlfriend

libby are clearly lesbian and people's can see that she published all or photos now she's been fired what she even went abroad to escape the pressure we call it on you up national voting or. to more claims he's caused 70 educators to be sacked so far. due to his activities he's now barred from entering the u.s. and the e.u. . meanwhile in the ritzy area of moscow where barbara lives her family is looking forward to the school ball. or mother has hired a hairdresser to make sure barber shines in front of putin's friends. i'm very excited about. this troll and. yeah it's like a dream where and princes came to her home and our psycho my

child during some. but whilst the revival of a czarist russia may be a dream for some for others it's a complete nightmare yeah. how does it modern day euro. artists search for truth. there mark. things are. easy issues. 20. 30 minutes.

in the. leg. length.

this is the new news live from berlin police crackdown on democracy protesters further and demonstrations in batteries are followed by more arrests targeting women will cause over to our correspondent in the better recession capital for the latest also on the program. tributes for the late us supreme court justice ruth bader ginsberg and her death has already ignited a partisan battle.