bases d.w. news live from berkeley and closing it down for a pandemic christmas governments across europe tighten lockdown restrictions they fear the year of end of year holidays could turn into covert 19 mass super spreader events also coming up germany marks a grim anniversary 4 years ago today a truck plowed through a christmas market in the capital and we'll look at how the country reacted and the lessons learned to the class of pop legend who composed under lockdown.

right. former beatle paul mccartney puts out an album in a pandemic. i'm rebecca races welcome to the program countries across europe are introducing a new round of coronavirus restrictions they're coming either just before christmas or soon thereafter italy is the life is country to announce new measures shops bars and restaurants they will close and travel between different regions will be banned similar precautions are being taken across the continent. a pause on public life across europe. shuttered shops and empty streets in germany as the country goes into its 1st weekend of hard lock down this winter.

austria will follow suit just after christmas non-essential businesses will close on december 26th. austria's current a virus infection rate is lower than many of its neighbors but there are fears that could change. your current events since we are not an island and have people coming in from other countries we should prepare ourselves for the possibility of exponential growth at any time. sweden's infection rate on the other hand has been surging for 2 months the nordic country never imposed a full lockdown relying instead on voluntary social distancing but with case numbers going up non-essential public facilities like pools and libraries will close and for the 1st time the government is recommending residents wear masks on public transport yet the measures remain lax compared to germany and austria very

serious look look down for example. in the long run because people would not put up with switzerland to is headed for lockdown as restaurants are set to close next week the swiss government has urged people to stay inside but his left at least one decision to local authorities whether to open ski lifts this year skiis will have to add covert 19 to the long list of alpine hazards. or home or most of joined by class humpers a journalist in vienna austria one of the many countries tightening restrictions can you give us details of what's going to be happening there. first of all everybody who wants to was it austria has to enter a 10 day county from the night on up to 5 days he or she can take it tested negative carotene my. besides this is. blocked only to be closed again on december

26th lasting until generally seventeen's or shops museums sports fitness centers everything is closed completely the 24 hour curfew will be in effect for the coming 3 weeks. then after the 17th generally take part in mass testing and negative may go to restaurants museums cultural events again be sure to be opening 1800 generate those who go to testing but have to stay in place that hold another week and can only go out again and generally 20 calls for extensions to go to work you go to by who you go to help somebody in the neighborhood or you walk around to his your dog is your purpose to get some fresh air no exceptions on the new year's eve so there are no play over no guys rings in the streets. ski resorts are another big topic of discussion as switzerland just next door to australia is letting local

authorities decide on whether to live penned scale lifts what's all straight doing there's a lot of money obviously involved in the decision. they want to earn the money to not only earn from outside because neither of their people are from germany not from italy not from switzerland will come into austria ski resorts will open in 24 hours of december but only for regional people because for tears and restaurants are closed until 70 to generate there are no food stations no drink possibilities no appreciate so only locals can go skiing and only for a one day visit if you want to say so this is possible and the local authorities decide to rodeo ancestral already decided to open on december 24th. right now austrian chancellor sebastian cortez said that the country even and i lend my hands to obviously talking about tourism there or are there other concerns as well. a lot of people from outside to live in austria and work in austria for example from

western balkans from germany from other parts of europe and to take chances little bit afraid that a lot of people for example orthodox people go back to serbia of tool chest of richie's of regenerate 6 and come back and bring back fresh infections there for he recommends everybody australians as well as foreigners living in austria to stay put in their own year in austria don't go to see your neighbors don't go to see your relatives just stable so that we prevent an overthrow in the i.c.u. and certainly going to be a different christmas this year klaus pumpers in vienna thank you very much. a 2nd covert 9 tame vaccine has been authorized for emergency use in the united states millions of doses of a dern a vaccine are expected to be added to the massive american vaccination program which began this week with health care workers older people in long term care

facilities next in line the approval comes one week after the u.s. food and drug administration authorized a vaccine developed by biotech and pfizer. we have a look now at some more of the latest developments in the pandemic german health departments reported 31300 new cases on friday and 702 fatalities related to cope with 19 more than 25000 people have now died of the disease in germany in france that toll has passed 60000 president emanuel my call is asking people to remain vigilant after he tested positive for covert 19 straight it has put parts of sydney under lockdown to bring under control acosta near the city's northern beaches people are only allowed to leave their homes for work care exercise or basic necessities and india surged past 10000000 coronavirus cases the 2nd highest in the world although new infection rights appear to have fallen sharply in recent

weeks. this weekend germany marks the 4th anniversary of the terrorist attack on a christmas market in the heart of berlin and islamist extremists hijacked a 40 ton truck and killed the driver he then rammed the vehicle into the crowded market killing a novel 1111 people and injuring dozens more with the terrorist s.k. 10 was shot dead by italian police 4 days later. early and was unprepared for such an attack and had to learn how best to help people in the aftermath. eustis minister is an emergency pastor in the days following the december 26th terror attack he met many of those traumatised by the event he says their grief was made even worse by the disastrous response from official support agencies. that's not what it was insists it did not work as well at that point from people understood very clearly that they were on their own. to

a certain extent that's because the berlin agencies and institutions were themselves overwhelmed you know morgan is that sort of i noticed on off of a photo phone as a result people waited a long time for financial and psychological help a public memorial service however happened very quickly the day after the attack possibly to suit their got the scenes but the memorial service was meant to be for victims' relatives but many of them had no idea at the time that they were actually the relatives of victims it was far too early. officials understood that there were not structures in place to deal with this kind of event a central liaison now coordinates support for victims and their families who will also get more financial help in the future. we all know that money can't make up for the terrible pain that people have experienced it can only help with immediate problems. for the victims of the 2016 attack we've retroactively increase the

payments even tripled them. frank says that the victims of racist and anti-semitic attacks in the cities of how now and how have had quicker access to support he says the agencies have learned from their mistakes. that was put to the test earlier this month interfere where a driver fatally rammed 5 people. the perspective of the victims is what matters are the perspective of the victims' families. every step of the process you have to say slow down don't hurry things but many people who are suffering after an attack get immediate aid and then you have to come to an agreement with the victims' families and also the families of the. 4 years after the 2016 berlin attack us this minister still

stays in touch with many of the victims he just wishes the changes in victim support had come in time to help them earlier. let's take a look at some other stories making headlines this hour supercycle and yasser has flattened entire villages as it tore through the pacific island nation of a.j. already say at least 4 people were killed climate change has made side climbs stronger and more frequent with the ass of the 3rd maximum strength to battle the island in 5 years. fewer secretary of state might be. peo says russia is likely the source of the worst ever cyber attack on government agencies and businesses in the country he is the 1st trumpet ministration official to link the attacks to russia moscow has denied involvement. a pair of endangered a rhino tanks have arrived in indonesia so they can be released back into their native habitat the 2 were seized from smugglers on the borders between thailand and

malaysia and 27 tane thailand has returned a total of $71.00 around the tanks to indonesia in the last 15 years. downs around the world have inspired many people stuck at home to take and take up an artistic pursuit and former beatle paul mccartney is among them the music legend has just released a new album recorded at his home after the pandemic forced him to stay inside for many months. paul mccartney is rocking out and staying in. his home studio in sussex that may not have an audience but mccartney had all the instruments he needed to put out 11 new tracks and i was actually just doing it for my own form but certainly. not for album mccartney 3 as the title suggests is the 3rd album bearing his name each one came out a notable moment in time. the 1st mccartney album after the beatles broke up

mccartney 2 after wings did. now mccartney 3 deals with the current state of things on this record what he's trying to offer more than anything else is not an exercise in experimental ism i think he's trying to offer comfort and sound and i think he's trying to so i think the overarching message is probably we will get through this. paul mccartney is an optimist. and optimist with moving lyrics about reality i'm an easy going pop album that will keep you entertained in this era of social distancing mccartney's music is an acoustic cut from the 70 year old performer is full of little ideas like that some of which i was able to use and finish on the

album but yeah there's plenty more where he will like a. little bit of sport now on a friday night when this league match any on berlin continued to exceed expectations this season when they pulled off a stunning $21.00 victory against dortmund the winning goal started with a set pace in the 78th minute which mom headed home for india it was his 4th goal of the campaign the most of any defender in the bundesliga and the win puts any own in 5th place right behind dortmund. when heavy snow fall is clobbering northern japan leaving motorists stranded and causing power outages in some regions a strong cold air mass brought record snow this week to mountainous areas in niigata and good mom. several all times not severe all time snowfall records were

set on friday with more than 2 metres falling in the city of just 3 days authorities have issued warnings for more snow avalanches and transport disruptions it watching daytime emmys live from birth then we'll have more headlines at the top of the hour i'm rebecca it is don't go away. on legal and games did you know that 17 trillion land of them are killed worldwide here but it's not just the animals that are suffering the school environment if you want to know how it went to the priest and the cultures strange to us as we think to listen to our podcast on the green.

those who see the boots a soviet made no maybe check. the trousers a soviet a weapon soviet. built soviet jacket soviet you can see from the buttons the magazine soviet the backpack soviets the the puck over the afghan capital and this is a real afghan. the world.

sautoy. yaws it was the 25th of december 179 when the soviets entered afghanistan to shit on all of us i a little it was around 2300 hours 1130. he suddenly heard the infernal din of tanks and planes. are hot got up and went outside and we saw thousands of tanks coming into afghanistan violent overthrow. and that went on for days and days the commercial media and the people from the information that i was given and that i could gather 100000 soviet troops had just invaded afghanistan. the soviet intervention didn't just happen by chance afghanistan was a buffer state trapped between the u.s.s.r. in the north and iran in the west pakistan to the south and east and china in the

north east the soviet union a desk and as don had traditionally been on friendly terms lenin's russia had been the 1st country to recognize afghanistan's independence in 1919 afghanistan was the 1st to recognize the soviet union in 1922. that the 2 nations had long maintained a close relationship the soviet supported afghanistan in a variety of areas such as agriculture the development of infrastructure and training the afghan army. moscow was cobbles leading economic partner that afghanistan remains an independent sovereign state. it was a marriage of both love and practicality. but it

ended paradoxically on the 27th of april $978.00. the day the afghan communists came to power in a bloody coup d'etat in kabul. there's nath at the start of soviet leader leonid brezhnev was against unarmed intervention in afghanistan he wasn't against sending aid including in the form of military advisors like afghanistan fell into a bloody and chaotic civil war it wasn't clear how the crisis in the ruling communist party might be resolved you thought you could use to prove between march in 1979 and december 979 when the soviet union does invade several things change one is that the tensions within the ruling party become much worse. and not only are many of the party members of the weak recently sidelined but even the 2 ruling how key leaders are mohamed and.

and have his will i mean are increasingly at odds with each other. several things would change direction as opinion for your peace efforts were in decline a candidate don't and peace was his baby but it also will be from the american perspective the soviet union is also using the day this kind of period of detente to expand its influence in the 3rd world. 175 of course we have the downfall of south vietnam and the reunification of vietnam as a communist state in afghanistan and seems to fit into this pattern i think the problem for britain of personally the reason they become so amenable to the idea of moving to me is that his embrace of he was very it was very public right he made a point of saying don't worry you'll be ok we'll support you when he misses when he visits moscow in 1079 and sees him off at the airport taking those back and then

he's arrested and killed and so then version of also sees this not just as a political insult to the soviet union but as a personal insult to himself. once his rival was ousted the way house is the law i mean undertook new revolutionary reforms in the country they took no account of traditional. culture. and were widely misunderstood by the public. far from sticking to brezhnev stop trying i mean provoked the soviets by installing a dictatorship in afghanistan and oppressing the people many of the afghan military deserted and joined the mujahideen. in the soviet kind of mindset of the fall of 1979 where they're worried about the united states taking advantage of the situation in afghanistan it almost seems like i mean is deliberately destabilizing the country and look deliberately destabilizing the leadership on top of that they're receiving subsidies that i mean

had met with americans and of course there's the fact that i mean had studied in the united states right so suddenly these kind of aspects of his biography and his behavior which on their own would not even be that suspicious start to come together and start to kind of point to the idea that i mean might be working with the cia. in total secrecy the red army invaded afghanistan at the end of december 1979 the soviets assassinated i mean and replaced him with a kremlin loyalist kamel. an air bridge to kabul marked the start of a bloody conflict one that was to be defining gauge ment of the cold war it would sealed the fate of the communist bloc and the soviet union it would change the world. this is a fellow's. long and the united nations jordan. it is

a deliberate effort of a powerful 8 years to government to subjugate an independent islamic people. for political but you don't remember what. we don't know how to make an imposed on the world read only. you know there was a meeting between british never and his closest advisors when they decided to intervene in afghanistan still a way to instill reduction know what the only document we now have about it is titled the situation in a the solicitor and the letter a is in quotation marks. doc a physical nasa creator so there was

a climate of secrecy it was conspiratorial even some of the politburo were not told immediately and wouldn't learn about it until early 1980. plus the soviet people would learn from press reports that there's a limited contingent of troops that had been sent at the request of the afghan government to help them reestablish order and that this contingent would not stay long and that it was a friendly country and they were there to help them as they've been doing for years etc etc the soviets had wanted to get out of afghanistan almost from the moment that they went in right so they were there from 1900 in 1989 but they had never intended to be there for 10 years and they were looking for a way out very early on so already in 1983. when they decided this they made a mistake they didn't talk about the duration of the occupation of iraq how long would our troops stay there a month a year 2 years 3 years or so in my opinion that was very important task events that

followed proved but even the intervention and the deployment of troops was warmly welcomed by the americans visits it was as if they wanted the soviet union to intervene militarily somewhere or other of the us or it's august when that happened in afghanistan they were well pleased by now but we will still. be another pretty united states and other western countries wanted the soviet union to get involved in a war that would weaken the country economically militarily and politically and that's exactly what happened british condition on the military the professional military as far as we know was very happy with this decision and they were actually warned. they'd warned the civilian leadership that it would be a mistake. marsalis we had good relations with the afghans toward the so deployment of our troops was welcomed by the populations shores but soon began the

so-called resistance short of which i stress the word cold because they quickly started to receive lots of money from the pakistan. it was clear the americans were giving money to the much idea even through pakistans of the industry. they didn't catch who they made war against it was normal fanatically at the job they were always as war with so much that im snooker you sustain you any skill or job you know they want your idea we were a group of about 20 or maybe 30 i wish i had seen and many were very young men. i had some very good friends in that group may they rest in peace and may god be merciful to them they are martyrs. we planned the attack well i asked them have you got incendiary bullets they replied yes we have i asked them to find out which vehicle in the soviet convoy was carrying the reserve

a few of us would look at me and to tell me if it was in the front or the middle of the convoy that. we waited on a slope for the convoy to arrive and then we fired at the field tanker. after that the convoy was blocked. the armored cars caught fire and the russians were all killed at the that's how it happened. after that attack we seized 30 or 40 weapons. see jimmy sell all we're going to. america group. one of our units was caught in an ambush. come on the professionals like one of my friends had command of the unit the fighting was very brutal. some were beheaded or had their eyes pushed down on.

your wrist which was. for the 1st thing you feel when your friend is dead is a desire for revenge. but i'm still i thought about the magazine in my weapon and i wanted to empty it into my enemies were sitting where it should get off with. the mighty this desire for revenge overrides everything else but them is just the most secure stormiest you are there to get your stuff the actual civility can they the soviet reaction was a sort of genocide by deportation to see due to the regime of populations that lived along the big roads connecting afghan cities to the borders of pakistan and iran who were routed and pushed out of the country. that would extend. sis was moscow's strategy in central asia and the 1920 s. and early thirty's the beauties of the 12 to surround isolate and destroy because.

20. 3000000 afghans to pakistan 02000000 to iran and. pakistan and iran were pursuing their own interests in the region and played a big role in the afghan resistance and resistance of the city was. this is it this ability it to name the soviet public was kept in the dark about what was going on in afghanistan. soviet media was under the complete control of the communist party. the press radio television. they only reported on what was happening abroad in a very limited and filtered way even before the intervention the soviet regime was not very popular. there was a general disinterest in politics and a lack of belief in communism was more the regime couldn't ensure supplies of basic

necessities is the keepin your legal thought if they can't even do that what good are they are. 6 regime the tenuous hope of reprobation with the west was ended by the intervention in afghanistan with the consequences were clear. there were sanctions against the soviet union and embargo on cereals and technology and the boycott of the moscow olympic games in 1980. in terms of image afghanistan was absolutely catastrophic for the soviet union. died in this movie i remember the absolutely soporific spectacle of these old fossils carrying the coffins of leaders of the politburo who were all over 70 years old. of the funeral images

of the regime on its deathbed on. the soviet union was in its death throes yet the old guard chose another sick old man to succeed. yuri andropov. both. yuri andropov was a man of the k.g.b. . he headed the k.g.b. secret service and secret police from 1967th 1980 to sicily really embodied the golden age of the k.g.b. with its vast operations abroad in latin america and africa. me on f.t. but he also represents a time when dissidents were arrested and put in psychiatric hospital as well a period of repression. a little her on the law both.

andropov wanted dialogue with the united states. but when he came to power in soviet america's relations were very bad so. or rather east west relations. put by clearly to do it was a phase that couldn't be called a cold war anymore a chilly war maybe oka men don't east west relations had again deteriorated though not because of and drop of rise to power because the process had begun in the 2nd half of the 1970 s. priscu led. most often don't assume what it is and this was something. i feel you need to seek. i'm a pilot in the soviet air force my name is bloody american a cough. for coming here to afghanistan. i only know

what i've been told which in reality means absolutely nothing naturally i have my doubts. vary but i knew that if i came here. anything could happen to me more from this which it sir. poor guy says mom you're not on julie doot over the top 100 ton elite as time went on doubts grew. because there were huge losses. and the soldiers who came back alive began to talk about the atrocities they'd suffered. or that they'd inflicted. because both sides were violent people and all that began to attract criticism slow progress is more of france you see dear decree teac. my mission today was to seek out caravans and targets to strike. i think the only people who could understand how i

feel and what we experience here are those who were in the vietnam war. they lived through the same thing and were exposed to the same dangers that we are. and all countries and all societies people look out for themselves their own daily problems and i don't the soviet union people don't know about what goes on in afghanistan there's more to north korea when we go back there are people who will ask us questions but i know now that they won't understand anything about our life here you see him the next this is a really dirty war. and this meeting is very near. if i'm a sucker designs only express one theory block the famous coffins in which the dead were transported homes were sealed so the families couldn't see their loved ones. and they suffered because they imagined the worst. slovak more and

more the war was no longer seen as legitimate by the soviet people. they started asking questions and there was anger when they found out they'd been lied to said put us you. know your proof is us. sometimes we have to transport coffins. around here survivors i have to say that was the most difficult part of our mission bringing back those confidence in the. gerbil years not one single mother accepted our explanation that our son had fulfilled his duty and had been a good soldier of a dog and. such words had no meaning for a mother's heart and sure. nothing could replace the son who'd been killed

ocean throwing to comfort them was the hardest thing for us as just. to sit the arrival of these coffins change not public opinion the opinion of civil society you'll see less and less the c.d.c. the fallen soldiers wives and mothers would come to embody the rejection of this war in afghanistan to sit to sit on that good stone. but for the united states the war in afghanistan was a godsend it's allowed the country to justify its own foreign policy.

i mean this in 1901 ronald reagan became u.s. president in 1903 he delivered his famous evil empire speech. i unscrew to put news live on where. he gave this speech to evangelical christians not break in the view that many religious people in the u.s. were pacifists who might become an obstacle to his aggressive policies against the soviet union just. to ignore the facts of history in the aggressive impulses of an evil empire to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong and good and evil. you know as in vietnam the soviets were hoping you know the americans we. were always hoping that it would be the south vietnamese we deal with the communist insurgency and that the americans would just be there in a supporting role. carrying out some operations but mostly focusing on training and

intelligence etc and in a very similar way this is what the soviets were hoping that their military could do in afghanistan also as the case was in vietnam it was very hard to maintain security once an operation was finished. so the american forces were pulled back to their forward bases and once again the terrain would be on the train would be open. and of course both shared a kind of here but that's a materialist idea of what it would take to win the majority of the population over to their own side mean the soviets also thought ok we need to do economic development we need to provide aid we need to provide you know food and medicine all of these things and that will make people more amenable to the communist government in afghanistan. and so they spent a lot of resources on this. of course in the end that wasn't enough.

was. the point of course yes when i claim my andropov who was very ill at the design it was proof that his worst fears were true a series of events supported enteral cold belief that the united states wanted to provoke a war as it has an effect you know the particular game that there must be if it is not. just being there whether they know that but you are going to go behind the town of sharif. it's highly dangerous here. from here on words is the most dangerous zone in the region. that you just of we control this route from 8 o'clock to 6 o'clock until it at night is controlled by the mujahedeen vision of what they want shot and sometimes fire at us during the day to. the point of british. the local. lookout take cover they're firing up ahead. of me that the man.

for their lives but a rocket landed right in front of our tank but at the bottom graduations comrade capitalists. what if the mujahedeen and your weapons are a bit better but nobody would ever see your film you. know because it doesn't in 1985 the city it became clear to the u.s. that the resistance would last also afghan doing good looking humans human the honest in the muslim world have realized that this wasn't just a proxy war between the. the soviets and the americans thought of because it was

the sort of justified muslim resistance for. a man see it as an american is america the reagan administration sense that it's now had political cover to supply aircraft weapons to resistance groups and it together with its pakistani allies you know. where the americans aiding the right side while the mujahideen declared a jihad or holy war to drive the soviet occupiers out of their country other extremist groups took advantage of the situation. to get there with the pakistani secret service they tricked the americans a large portion of the american military aid fell into the hands of radical fundamentalist groups including one led by a certain osama bin large. there

were also resistance fighters for whom no us help arrived like those in pan shia a valley in the north east of the country they had to fend for themselves doing whatever they could to secure weapons. here in the valley of i'm sure. we have nothing but soviet weapons. with weapons captured from the animated. leading the pan hsieh mujahideen with the 28 year old commander a comment shah massoud with no support from the us he managed the impossible he resisted the red army. repeatedly the most powerful force in the world.

we have no direct or indirect relations with the americans. and. during the last attack no one came to our aid. the articles in american newspapers are lies. they aren't true. it's in every muscle in his natural charisma and his military exploits against the soviets made him a symbol of the afghan resistance he was respected as a commander and loved as a person but apart from his strategic and military talents he was known in pan shia for establishing a community based on respect for islam even today he remains a legendary figure i'm not sure most would make sure. it was

young tall handsome with fine features and offers. myself shortly after he was very charismatic and well spoken so work making sure he had a big effect on people he was friendly here a chapter that i'm kind of book and his army though she was there is no doubt that he was a gifted military strategist and an exceptional talent but i want to stress his humanistic values he was a great humanist as a group of churches should meet on but. he was the most peaceful man i ever knew but he found himself in the worst of circumstances war. so even while afghanistan was at war with the soviets he was thinking about the future about the schools that should be built about the education of the next generation later. he turned to flee that's before we are so my pleasure. i

can only say positive things about. the certain. he was intelligent sophisticated and he never made irrational decisions. he always kept his word however difficult that might be he did a great deal for his people who do this are you surprised me. while most sued for the red army life in moscow continued as normal until the day when the aged constantine chen yanker who had succeeded and drop off died in march 1905 a younger man came to power a new face in the kremlin the fate of afghanistan and of the soviet union would change forever. i'll sit for our says will not go but short of. the hour had come for mikhail gorbachev the heir apparent to under a part of the became general secretary of the communist party of the soviet union

no one knew then that he would be the last cycle and he was different from his predecessors much younger than 54. he was born in 1931 near stefano paul in the caucasus if you did he had humble origins his father and grandfather were peasants because. he would prove to be a good authority on agricultural matters that was his trademark. that's why he was called to moscow. in 1980 he became a member of the polish. galleys magick that's an arched his rapid rise was due to his charisma and also his age and his easy manner. he could give speeches without notes 6 pretty improvised you know use is so for the soviet people observing his demeanor it was something completely new he liked appearing in public which was also unusual all devoted to his predecessors had had

very little direct contact with the people of this in search of a clip of gorbachev visited factories spoke with people was interested in every day problems. to play. there was a sense that a new era was beginning to loosen you. why don't you. put in one of the well i don't know what this war is about why they have to be millions of deaths. what are we fighting for. this. this is their country and i think they can take the responsibility for it themselves. they can decide their future and vote for the policies they want. but if you believe. being here makes no sense it's

a mistake. for the ship. let us look at the psych 185 was the most atrocious year of the war in afghanistan. gorbachev came to power and the generals wanted to persuade him that winning was still possible. but it meant pulling out all the stops before the resistance fighters got american anti aircraft weapons. cache deep in 1905 tens of thousands of peasants and their livestock were killed zam but it was too late for the up and. were equipped with those american and the aircraft guns view of that they were suddenly able to shoot down on average one so be a plane and one so be it helicopter pre-date both use and no soviet pilot wanted to be part of that statistic. so you can see the result was that from $986.00 the

resistance fighters were also active during the day see soviet air operations only took place at night because the pilots were afraid of being shot down. so the ground troops lost their air support you and the soviet occupation was do. look at those who city could. have been. afghanistan was a thorn in gorbachev's side it was referred to as the russian vietnam it was a war with big losses and for which the people suffered. it also presented a foreign policy problem. if you got a bunch of couldn't find a solution to the problem the west would see him as no different to his predecessors. because as far as the west was concerned if the affair went on unresolved it meant nothing had changed in the soviet union if you know morning. he

really had to show that his policy had changed and that the soviet union was moving into a new era. he had to draw a line under it do it wouldn't be easy because the americans were quite standoffish to begin with. you weren't sure who they were dealing with. but slowly he was able to build up confidence by making a lot of concessions. go back to the concessions were mostly on his side who produced it. democrat is very. serious they will tell us the printer issue and yes yes you will yes i love you lie you can start this is you do sort of lose interest or what are you so when you start to build it was rationing or you know chefs pople i didn't turn to even with a still owes it reason yet they say stop me if you were. there was a player who were going to stand to come on the show i was sent back to afghanistan

as commander of the 40th army and head of all soviet forces in afghanistan stand. in the middle that's my mission was can. to bring home our troops we see were this pretty good morning but how could a little valley with only 5000 men and 700 weapons stop the red army reputed to be the most powerful in the world. so it's thanks to the structure of the valley with its mountains and rivers that was good for us and bad for the enemy. to fight the soviets for 10 years they never managed to take his strongholds the punch. he also held the key to a successful withdrawal of soviet troops because his mujahideen controlled part of the routes linking kabul and the u.s.s.r. his relationship to groom off was respectful almost friendly. it is mostly

this guy never met must food in punchy always on neutral territory or the. only pretty for different sample on the main road from kabul to the sun long past the weather punchier valley begins. where we agreed on a particular site i am arrived by helicopter and he came on horseback all by jeep woman in numbers accompanied by his body comes. the richer is the best which the word here is even in your soviet corporators these. 3 as. s. this is there they were sure we would say it is a when you stand that i knew yes there was no war so. that when i was on the bridge result i didn't expect to be greeted by my eldest son quit when i was overcome by emotions. i felt relief but also dispatched us to

board as if i suddenly became aware of all the responsibility that i had carried all those years. near on and the nervous tension was immense sucked because the situation had been very hard to and complicated review organism i had a feeling of total emptiness as i crossed the bridge i had the impression that my life was over i was completely burnt out. just a shell of serious mr gore the during the 1980 s. everything had revolved around afghanistan. just like you'd hand for hundreds of thousands of soviet family business. and for my own friends and family as for me off to this war the 990 s. began is really difficult as that destroyed our country who flushes to nationalist of. the mood in the soviet union time and voices critical of go but shelf in the ruling elite group allowed people called

to him to resign they wanted real change. glasnost and perestroika sailed. the economic crisis hit the country hard shops were empty the people no longer believed in go but self all the future of communism. but his policies had opened pandora's box there was no stopping the course of history. 9 months after the soviet withdrawal from afghanistan the burning wolf.

even in moscow statues were toppled they started with that of felix jasmine ski the founder of the cheka the forerunner of the k.g.b. . the growing discontent became more more focused on those in power in the kremlin and. one after another the soviet socialist republics declared independence. the days of communism and the soviet union were numbered. most it gathered gives don't like it that is. afghanistan war was the catalyst for the fall of the u.s.s.r. it played an important role. for one thing it exposed the military weakness of the red army. which wasn't able to control the situation on the ground. also the war showed that the soviet economy was no longer strong enough to finance

such a conflict. it shone a light on the structural problems of the regime. and it undermined the myth of proletarian internationalism put in the idea that the powerful soviet union should help developing countries. beyond one small country was able to defy a superpower. that us had gone to so that led the u.s.s.r. to question its identity including its capacity to go toe to toe with the united states. the war in afghanistan raised some very painful questions in the soviet union. again. february 1909 marked the end of what's known as the soviet invasion of afghanistan

or the afghanistan war or as moscow called it sending a limited contingent to aid a brother country. the end of the conflict brought great relief to the multi-ethnic populations of both afghanistan and the soviet union it was to be the last armed conflict of the cold war. but it had taken a heavy toll around 2000000 dead on the afghan side 15000 soviet soldiers killed and millions when days. there were countless victims of landmines and there was mass population displacement. with around 6000000 people fleeing to pakistan and iran. it was a war that would change the face of the world a devastated afghanistan fell into a bloody civil war in which the islamist taleban would emerge as sponsors of a new source of international terrorism it's no coincidence that the country is

known as the graveyard of empires that's certainly true when it comes to the soviet union 2 and a half years after withdrawing its troops in december 1991 it ceased to exist. inside him things. spin. everything revolves around christmas. cheer in a german village famous for its handcrafted toilets candle arches. incense smokers morning. we find out what magic in seoul about. the moments. 30 minutes.

why are people forced to hide in trucks. resurfaced. there are many cancers. and there are many. stories. plain make up your. claim. made for mind.

bases don't have any news live from closing down for a pandemic christmas governments across europe tied down restrictions i feel the end of year holidays could turn into covert 9 tain mass super spreader events also coming up germany marks a grim anniversary 4 years ago today a truck plowed through a christmas market in the capital but then we'll look at how the country reacted and the lessons learned.