news maker. itself. this is almost see the number of u.s. troops in iraq becomes the lowest since the start of the war but those have already returned home they've been told the scrum paid by the very country they feel. the u.s. is trying to speed up the pros says about three dollars a gallon russian arms dealer to do it from call could have already dispatched a special plate collecting bottles new challenges the u.s. pulled out before the extradition was approved could sell did latest apologia. women's rights campaigners sound the alarm they were the wrong ones in the number of female genital mutilation cases in the u.k. although the product is is illegal in the country no one's ever been convicted of the crime and sells and so considered to be out risk here. next we bring you the

story of the biggest time battle of world war two of course as russia continues to mark sixty five years since the defeat of nazi germany. did she know india is a modern day take it's taken in korea come back capabilities make it one of the world's best illustrated access plant in the city of mission to kill in the urals is the only manufacturer of the two hundred ninety in russia each year new tanks are tried out a special proving ground. the key ninety is a descendant of the t.

thirty four the legendary world war two era tank one of the last operating tanks of this kind is still officially in the service of the plant's guards it also performed ceremonial duties in the town streets during celebrations marking the victory over fascist germany. it was the t. thirty four that played a key role in the battle of curse the biggest tank battle of the second world war. when british prime minister winston churchill was summarizing the outcome of world war two at a press conference in one thousand forty five he singled out three types of weapons that had shown the best performance during the war the british artillery the german messerschmitt aircraft and the russian teeth thirty four tank he said he understood how the first two weapons and been made but he couldn't possibly understand how the team thirty four had come into being. and how to get into the german had quarters

failed to forecast the t. thirty four tank appearance of choice as it was an evident blunder of the german intelligence intended of course it should be considered that it was extremely difficult to arrange intelligence against the soviet union as it was a closed state to. on the other hand germans failed because of their pride and then its enforced but after swift victories in europe they trusted their forces so much they couldn't even suggest that such a fighting machine as the t. thirty four would appear in the soviet union. russian ten cruise referred to the t. thirty four is their work course this combat vehicle has been recognised as the best medium tank of world war two on the basis of three key characteristics its firepower its armor protection and its mobility. the teacher before was designed at a plant in the city of kut acuff by me. in one nine hundred forty one after hitler's germany violated the non-aggression pact and attacked the soviet union the plant was moved east and with greater urgency on the eve of the battle of curse in

one nine hundred forty three a train load of t. thirty force was dispatched to the front on a daily basis some one thousand tanks in a month. the germans knew they could not produce as many tanks as their phones or to poland therefore they focus not on the quantity but on the quality of the thus the german tanks tiger and the panther tanks of a new class your palm are better than the t. thirty four but it took much longer to produce such tanks on the team thirty four tank. the world's first tank and very built was launched in the soviet union in mid one nine hundred forty three and a top secret plan known only as number one hundred eighty three war time conditions then were specially hard one shift lasted for twelve hours and work continued around the clock put your life was very hard indeed there is some people even died

of hunger food in winter time most people preferred to stay of the plant around the clock would a joey spend the night at the plant that you once one of the workers curled up next to a pile of warm cinder with with what he saw he was asleep already with good people when we checked but he was already dead when. vicinity in the ship survived the war during those years he worked in the factories an assistant steelmaker. showed up at the factory. i had no special skills. i hadn't been trained to anyone. the silly often visits the college to trains workers for the tank plant today's students even have the chance to feel like tank commanders by using special simulators they get all the necessary skills after five years of training them back in one thousand nine hundred three everybody was welcome to work at the plant with or without education regardless of age at that time worker study tank design

examining real life german combat tanks. cannot know the what sometimes. german tanks were brought to our planet. when we were young then ludwig zan in them and even rotating the target. in this simple manner of. my early nine hundred forty three the german tanks had all but raced the advantages of the t. tourney for the tiger heavy tank was expected to be the main striking force in the battle of turkish. the tigers driver mechanic had no difficulty guiding the tank using a steering wheel with a booster tank was convenient and comfortable for combat. by contrast it took both the commander in the mechanic to steer a russian team thirty four and they did employing a far less sophisticated method. of the robot going to method was it as we see the

commanding officer have only what he saw through the slit to go by in the car so if you want to the time to turn to the left he hit the driver mechanic on the left shoulder. of the mechanic knew he should turn to the left and be on horsepower also when the come on the want to the time to turn to the right support he had the mechanic on the right shoulder. the teacher before had good speed and maneuverability and required no overly complicated skills to assemble but he couldn't compete in open battle with a tiger heavy tank. tiger treated any soviet tank of the day from a distance of two thousand meters but soviet tank crews only had a range of five to six hundred metres. and the will of cook more than himself along with so that we all still sells how we can cheat the geminids course there were problems with that and some instances a teeth that are falling when suddenly rush to the rights of full speed torture with the ball in the what you as the germans i guess slowly turned around to allow

its guns take aim not another teeth thirty four would rush to the taiga in his it reminded me of a song it's you but the way the with. the tiger was mainly designed to break through enemy defenses this rare footage shows the german army cid vance and the curse of. tigers move slowly at the head of the offensive the mere look of tires and a strong psychological effect on russian troops. bunk you can see a big hulk of a turn to produce. machine gunners and other machine gunners are trailing behind you if we lead them through will be destroyed. not supposed to abandon the line of defense isn't a good word for anything but a retreat near die ok but hold your positions for your. world war two veteran vice city ships off lives in the village of proof of your

curse in one thousand nine hundred three he was nineteen years old on july fourth he and other soldiers from his battalion were waiting for their first taste of combat in this ravine. the men had reason to believe they were unlikely to survive the battle. when we were told to load our weapons and replenish ammunition. secure everything to your body to give you maximum ability. we were told to leave our personal belongings behind. google no longer needed they said and read you. very much was also making thorough preparations for the battle tank units were reinforced with specially trained cadets. carl gales dorf was one of them. this is a photograph from his private archive as part of a test attack company of twenty two tiger tanks he first arrived at the eastern

front in early july nine hundred forty three a few days before the battle his company received orders to immediately abandon their deployment position in a small village near cursed. mom group when we were leaving your officers were rummaging through houses where we had launched destroying all traces of our presidents bits of documents and even paper left over from letter writing. moreover learned it shortly before the battle to soviet command knew not only all our deployment areas for you but also our plans for an offensive. we reasoned then why get embroiled at all over. the battle of curse great importance for the german high command after a failed advance on moscow and having suffered complete defeat at stalingrad the very muffed was keen to take revenge they hope to successful operation

a curse might again give them the strategic upper hand that would allow the germans to launch yet another offensive against moscow and strike in the direction of the caucasus if there was well aware of the importance of the battle forthcoming. an excerpt from hitler's order of july fourth one thousand forty. today your embarking on a major offensive operation was calm may decide the course of the war their victory must reinforce the certainty everywhere in the world that any resistance to the german army will be pointless in the end you must know that everything may depend on the success of this combat. the cursed bulge took shape on the eastern front in the course of the fighting in spring nine hundred forty three to great threat to the german verma soviet troops might launch a major offensive from that springboard and after a long period of hesitation the german command decided to forestall the red army the plan was to cut russian troops off from the main forces to pave the way for

wider operations. in turn thirteen on the eve of the battle of curse the germans had occupied the village of a chevy it's where he lived with his parents just before the battle broke out yvonne and other boys took up positions nearby tack to scouts watching the movements of german and russian troops not get r d thirty four tanks came from there or that it was i'm sorry tanks altogether. because you know as if there was no advance intelligence. the germans had what we called their menagerie is niggers panther. in the village. to keep thirty four tanks came under massive shelling. they were forced to pull back one of the soviet tanks hid in

a small gully by the roadside yvonne noticed the spot but couldn't make it to the tank before massive bombing and shelling sent in from all sides. us i was hell sheer hell you know an inferno there's no other word for it there were shell fragments all over the place was walking there was a lot of the question of the us quote gave a jag and shrapnel was very sharp. through early july nine hundred forty three military action was mostly limited to small air raids or ground force reconnaissance missions. witnessed one of these local clashes he set out to look for the t thirty four four days after the russian tanks came under fire. the air was literally scorching with heat and tension soviet troops were anticipating an offensive operation but the germans were

still biding their time by july fourth one thousand nine hundred three the war's longest lall had already lasted a hundred days. disarming saddam hussein. fast majority of iraqi citizens. this event brings further assurance that the torture chambers and the secret police are gone forever. again over embassy in kabul. to watch occupied afghanistan. now occupy sales at guantanamo bay. it is appropriate to the. chords as if he did even. if a slap stomach slap if you can should diminish so that it shocks especially if it

gets slow but you don't actually break any bones could. take that we. should. be nothing to. we believe transfer. a massive german offensive begin in the early morning of july fifth one thousand nine hundred forty three. the fighting. side.

of the first line of soviet defenses the germans advance by ten to twelve kilometers in four days though under their citadel plan the germans were to have encircled soviet troops on the fourth day the offensive. german had quarters believe it was possible to circle troops on the course course shots if they plan to do it at the beginning of nine hundred forty three or the course battle began six months later for those six months the sun. and army had made titanic efforts who managed to thorley prepared salvo on that front line norm and chemist sat near course can the world's strongest antitank defense was organized. the battle of curse once again demonstrated to the germans that dogged heroism of russian soldiers but they were also up against a staggering a ray of ditches minefields an anti-tank barriers a total of eight entrenched defensive lines. on the first day my company was

committed with twenty two tanks and a good. two days later we had only ten combat capable tanks left twelve tanks were disabled soley by land. it was a system of defenses unique in the entire history of world war two soldiers and local civilians built it with spades and shovels. you couldn't and busying of it was twenty years old at the time shortly before the battle she and hundreds of other young women were building a railway while military men ensured their security. after the war and became part of a railway leading to profit of cars station. in one thousand nine hundred three it was constructed in conditions of total secrecy. the tracks were laid across all of the defensive lines. during the battle the railway carried heavy artillery and ammunition to forward positions keep thirty four tanks with the most important part

of the cargo. it isn't going to do this israel three a one ready to go to line to pull. got it decreased by its military railway section is now open permission to proceed because it is. here got to blast let's go. there was the first room around the railway the builders lived under shelter of branches set up on the construction site they. crude by campfire and they followed a rigid schedule. during the first day i dick with a shovel full and a. two wheel barrel and later. on to the river where. the corning to play in the railway was to be completed in ninety days the builders worked tirelessly from dawn till sunset the first train

was gone when the last spike was set just thirty one days after the start of construction work went on even under constant bombardment. we were. shown in reconnaissance plane would come around. everybody would try to find shelter where everything could sound which hides behind . that but yeah but it turned out to king the ant all of us. did manage to reach that t. thirty four tank which he saw stuck in the ravine for four days following the german shelling of a convoy of soviet tanks. done the knocked out turning but the day was right here brought you. once german sappers came there. they wanted to blow the tank but the mechanic was hiding there in the swamp all the

while there was a submachine gun and grenade with him he would never let them blow it up if they tried to go i was inspecting the tank when suddenly somebody was a bird minya ugly wood was a boy i come here i went into that direction and saw soldier who told me one hope my look i had nothing to eat for four days will you bring me something that you would. as long as the germans remained in the village the boy secretly supplied them with food. at the time of was just fourteen but after helping us commit to join the soviet tanks unit he carried our reconnaissance throughout the rest of the war. but he never saw such bitter fighting as he did to curse culch. i can't imagine how we were able

to survive in that hell in defies description words fail me move the fighting it was a nightmare. noise was deafening. this was how most . began firing shells into and the other shelled in response. visibility was very poor couldn't see the tanks only can see with a burst of fire. very first would not last long he survived along with the rest of his tiger's crew but they were just a gauge from the battle and sent to the rear. of my tank. as we pushed forward. i caterpillar was damaged well the tank was no longer combat keep. up with me didn't even come within sight of the

first line of soviet defenses. the germans broke through to defensive lines in the villages. realized that nothing but a cultural counterstrike to hold them. they would have to launch a head on attack against the positions of division. on the morning of july twelfth the soviet tanks were ordered to move in. some speed to get within effective firing range as soon as possible. to cruise knew they were facing almost certain death but there was simply no other option. this is what tuchman did on you sail towards the enemy positions exposing themselves to german falling sometimes soviet tanks rammed german tanks on his fields when they couldn't hit them by firing their guns such accidently speak about heroism and great self-sacrifice on q. obviously it produced

a strong psychological pressure in germany the saudi tank crews went to their deaths honorably in that fight. soviet tanks fought literally to the last shell approach there would be no miracle the remnants of the army's fifth armored guards retreated to their original positions. still they slowed to germany and france there were only one and a half kilometers separating them from both of those but the germans never covered that distance only the battlefield itself fell under their control. the. troops had exhausted them they'd suffered such huge losses that they could never recover after the battle of course was too heavy that is to say from a strategic standpoint we've won it.

after many consecutive days fighting on the defensive. battalion finally went on the counter offensive. she feared for what fighting is all about but there is no fear what would you become a wild beast you have to kill them off or you'll be killed we just had no time to worry about survival and you're not all. vassily shift so if often visits familiar battlefields he survived in one thousand nine hundred three only because he was wounded it was thanks to that injury that he set out his battalions final action in which nearly all of his comrades were killed. it was a point of no return. as a lie in bed i still can't believe i'm back new here at the general leave it even now.

this church has been built to commemorate to soviet soldiers who died in the village of crow one of. it's the world's only orthodox church which was completely covered in the names of soldiers who gave their lives in battle. there's a bell tower in the field near prophet of god every twenty minutes the bell tolls to honor the dead. on july seventeenth one thousand nine hundred three to begin an organized retreat

from the cursed bolch leaving behind piles of twisted military hardware and thousands of dead bodies. operation citadel had been a failure i tunes troops were always on the defensive after the battle of cursed it was a turning point not only in the german soviet standoff but also in the course of the entire second world war. from that moment and became clear not only for german generals and officers the war was lost but even average soldiers of the german army under students that if russians could fight in severe winter and take advantage of their weather and also weekend summer the war was lost indeed. on this third one thousand nine hundred three the red army launched a massive off ends of operation all along the front line on august fifth the germans were ousted from audio limbo going to those events were marked by the war's

first gun salute. each passing year sees the death of more and more world war two veterans vassily shifts so if the infantry men. who saved a russian tank commander and you can. the woman who helped build the crucial railway they gathered less and less frequently at this memorial they have a drink from a soldier's bowl to honor those who died in the battle of curse. the tank min of our regiment. to those who are dead and those who are alive. yes they say string theorist in peace.