the. beasts in which brighten if you will some from feinstein pression. starts on t.v. dot com. this is artsy for moscow the top stories today brush is holding fast celebrations to mark sixty six years since the victory over nazi germany in world war two was because festivities began with a military parade which involved the record number of troops marching through the red square. and in western ukraine the holidays been marred nationalists a visit cleared virtually assaulted veterans paying tribute to the form of world war two the incidents adding to fears the nazi glorification is growing area.

for its exhibit sense of fight in the libyan lifeline port of misrata with nato bombing failing to break the siege of the city it comes as the mounting cost of air raids on the unclear aims of the campaign trigger protests in denmark which is a coalition member country. this is r.t. from moscow it's monday evening the ninth of may next we hear about the incredible levels of troops tanks and artillery that took berlin and freed europe from the sea tyranny. berlin the rush dogs home to germany's parliament it was right here the final flight of world war two took place. there ever fewer surviving witnesses to the events of those days soviet veterans will never forget what happened sixty five years ago commission hopes gun fire corpses flame that's how the right start look by the end of april nine hundred forty one. pit. german soldiers fought

for everything sufficiently they tried to stands to the last minute against soviet troops. using more than fifty thousand soldiers and officers night over russian a polish and german each of us forty for all. the russians for their zero one twenty four hours. the. last of fortune. the red flag with the raids on the top of the lifestyle game a nine hundred forty five. became a symbol of the victory of so few people over fascisms. see in one nine hundred forty five vassily was an anti-tank gun platoon commander she still keeps him out that he got before assaulting berlin. the river

this is a map they gave out before the donkey at them we were supposed to attack the outskirts of girl in the dawn back and before that they gave me a map of the victim knew or should have. in late january nine hundred forty five the success of the fistula other offensive had gained soviet troops a foothold deep in german territory. crossing the autor river they had covered nearly five hundred kilometers in twenty days the germans no longer offered any serious resistance the soviet line is now just a stone's throw away from berlin the ultimate objective of the red army offensive yet we need a map i measure the distance with a ruler the sixty one kilometers to the outskirts of berlin it only sixty one kilometers or media and when the allies bombed the flashes of an aircraft shells let the sky like stalkers. stone stomp to the plane short. the battle for

poland has left the advancing soviet troops with almost no any mission and fuel the soviet army took two months to prepare for the assault. meanwhile the germans also took advantage of the delay. of the reserves around early and were brought up here this was the place where the army's strongest units were concentrated in the was final weeks were made after the germans also built a formidable defenses extending twenty kilometers west ward from the forward positions and six and a half kilometers from vendi camfed. soviet and german forces were being amassed along the author for the most massive military operation in world history. then social of three and a half million troops from both sides some ten thousand tanks in the schools of thousands of assault guns and eleven thousand dollars to some of those know of operation of that scale in world war two you know could there be any billing was at stake you see. meanwhile the leaders of the soviet union the united states and

britain had not yet agreed on which army would take the german capital the british prime minister winston churchill called on the us president franklin d. roosevelt to start the assault on berlin in a letter addressed to roosevelt on april first one thousand nine hundred five churchill wrote the following if the russians also take berlin it will not their impression that they have been the overwhelming contributor to our common victory he unduly imprinted on their minds and made us not lead them into a move which will raise grave and formidable difficulties in the future. super bowl britain was aiming to see germany destroyed in which there was on the other hand it wanted the soviet union weakened as much as possible i knew by their real concern was the body appearance of a new arrival on the consulate and the continued from. in early april the ford most u.s. troops were about one hundred kilometers west of berlin there were almost no battle

ready german armies facing them all of them had been loosed treat the eastern front to repulse the soviet offensive. person hours known to have asked general simpson whether u.s. troops could take berlin farms was lost as he expected in that case and simpson said he expected some thirty thousand a casualty or eisenhower sat there that wouldn't do for us troops were to hold their positions i don't want to let the russians do the fighting. on april first stellan called a meeting of his supreme command where he decided that the berlin operation should start in mid april. when you were i think that if roosevelt hadn't saw it on april the twelfth stolen would have agreed to the participation of the western allies forces in the assault on lynn calling soras of us as a kind of caring school who would prevent the allies from stabbing him in the bunk

. roosevelt's death prompted in the soviet commands to take a resolute action. for april sixteenth stalin may have had yet another reason for wanting to take berlin without delay in early april the british prime minister ordered the drafting of operation unthinkable. the british military declassified documents relating to it a few years ago. which received these documents relating to operational thinkable from a british. twenty nine pages. britain's joint planning staff started preparations for hostilities against the soviet union a month before the war's end the operation planned by the british implied an attack on the soviet union without declaring war on july first one thousand nine hundred forty five forty seven british and us divisions were to deliver a crushing blow to the soviet army the attack was to have the support of twelve

german divisions. when so to say that russia should be forced to succumb to the will of great britain and the united states. is just one quote from the plane of the operation. nation of the russians could only be achieved as a result of the occupation of such areas of metropolitan russia that the war making capacity of the country would be point and image for the resistance became impossible. some credit is certainly due to the british military planners they were clearly aware that the soviet army was nearly twice the size of the western allies combined forces and quick success in any such conflict would be all but impossible . some historians suggest that stalin was wary of something like operation unthinkable prompting him to speak. he knew that something was

brewing it's hard to say whether he had a clear knowledge of the details that we now know that are famous by kim philby he was operating in britain at the time we were told foreign office officials they were doing a very effective job which in effect. stefan jordan bird son of a german anti-fascist had joined the soviet army in one thousand nine hundred forty two as a volunteer. in april of one thousand nine hundred five he was a propaganda officer. at the early hours of april sixteenth he was summoned to headquarters he was told to announce to the germans through the loudspeakers the start of the war's final so he defensive in a few hours time. i said susie because the systems newcomer general this is impossible with we can't possibly give away military secrets on. me and said tenants we can have an interest in keeping casualties to minimal.

towards most massive preparatory bombardment counted five o'clock in the morning of april sixteenth. thousands of artillery pieces shelled german positions for half an hour. but you sure multiple rocket launchers were the first to start up the pounding is so deafening you can't hear a single payer or somebody shows something injury or hear. antonius schneider was a corporal in the opposing army a platoon of heavy machine guns was under his command when they were defending a small railway station near the seal heights. at the very outset his platoon lost three out of four mission guns. that waddy rossiter i thought could we do in that situation that absolutely nothing you quote right is all that artillery had overwhelming superiority and if we were gripped with blind fear all we wanted was

to hide somewhere from that ferocious fire does it go for. everything was ablaze a logs were flying all around at last for something like thirty five minutes the north of the northern tanks rolled forward and we followed him behind. and there were anti-personnel mines all really plays and they do no harm to tanks and when i had to forward the tank in its tracks we should avoid the mines so that they didn't blow my legs off. to achieve greater effect one hundred forty high powered searchlights and who needed the german positions. marshals to cause idea was to blind the germans to hinder their return fire. because you had to fire if you didn't know where to look because you were blinded by surge like steam and we couldn't see any details if all we saw was a blazing bank of the reverse of seeing. through the germans cielo was the last

defensive line before berlin so the german soldiers defended the highlands with general determination petri chism aside the german army had still other reasons to keep fighting to the bitter end despite the desperate situation. good a good result that any soldier flees his position might be shot and killed by an officer on the spot so many soldiers hanged on poles for attempting to leave their position are propaganda had hammered into our heads that we must avoid being taken prisoner by the soviets at all cost into. the soviet forces expected to overrun the seal heights in a matter of hours. germans clung to their defenses for nearly three days and nights . after a head on thrust fail to take the heights soviet troops out flank of the german defenses only vended the defending army led by general to say fall back now nothing

stood in the way of the red army's advance towards berlin. the cost of the assault was very high. the soviet forces lost tens of thousands of men in a tiny center near the arctic. noodles going i have never seen so many dead bodies as i sold the sale the heights the thousands and thousands of men died in a very small plot of land the most terrifying thing of all was those people dying there i knew that the war would be over in a couple of weeks in spite of need there were no support. after the fall of the seal heights the germans never again offered any organized resistance. some elements of the german army were still trying to fight as advance and soviet army simply swept them away. but beat the odds though that we didn't stay to defend

berlin that's because there was nobody who could protect but because many people died as a flag to the west given to the americans a meeting caught it in. one of the biggest german cemeteries is situated not far from berlin in a small town of hauled up in occupies a few square kilometers. more than twenty thousand german soldiers are buried here most of them were in an s.s. division culture northland. private hair each input from seal heights was retreating with the rest of the lines are being led by general de sac he was running from the advancing soviet army with just one gun in his hands. when his column was entering the town of hulda fifty. name under heavy fire. right here the furniture factory was here as us soldiers with that they took us for a soviet column and they opened fire on it so the crossing was covered with dead

bodies from the fight the fight was going on between two german divisions. and. when the germans realized they were shooting their own people they stopped the fire but by that time the soviet troops had already approached the town of how about. private gain his german colony turned out to be in a circle of fire on the one side of the street the soviet soldiers were shooting. and on the other side v.s.s. soldiers were fighting back. before her needs were flying from both saw it's the fighting was intense there where the bakery is now well and to take fortifications apart they prevented soviet tanks from entering the territory for a little so they prohibited the germans from running from the battlefield on this street we lost hundreds and hundreds of all men from. the remains of pussies army managed to leave the circle and fled to the west but during those three days in

a hollow more than sixty thousand german soldiers died and one hundred twenty thousand were taken prisoner there was just one day left before the capitulation of germany. russia was that so much i was about to face end of life in the form of forgive a real interest for what is happen to be a war movement there are plenty of wars being fought there with far fewer protesters was the anti-war movement just. the price of freedom from the most polluted fascist regime in history. those who fought to win the war. stand proudly. against the tide of history being written. sixty six years of victory

on our team. fixed for. a few. extra fifty just. the typical german town of toronto on the elbow river like in many provincial cities the pace of life is slow here toward l. might never have been known to the world if not for the events of april twenty fifth one thousand nine hundred forty five. more calm or calm on the day an american patrol came to the door go and climb to dob as sixteenth century castle on and on from there they saw a bridge over the alley the river it was blown up by the germans and they saw the soviet soldiers on the eastern of our side of the commander left an unwilling

robertson to get into a battle him and draw an american flag on its own model to do as he climbs to the castle settings on more programmers and look outside and through the flag out of the window and that very moment he heard the whistle of a shell coming from the eastern bank you far as someone tried to shoot the window that was a shell from the socialist gun and alexander aside washed all three of us. the group was through us so it was a group of people including women that was approaching the river i thought we knew that german army officers were hiding on the other bank so it was necessary for us to understand the situation did we need to shoot or find an alternative way is therefore with. but finally the soviet soldiers realizing the styria as men on the far bank were actually their american allies what followed would become an iconic moment in the world war two history of the meeting at the elbow. it happened when

the bulk of the soviet forces encircled berlin and some elements of the red army reached the all the river. the allies from both sides had decided to celebrate the meeting. the american lieutenant million robertson and the soviet lieutenant alexander soon vanished all became friends the picture of the two men hugging became a symbol of the end of the second world war. we were both illustrating and i was grinning and happy to meet each other with those who were happy to know that we were the victors. the first link up of american and soviet troops could have taken place much earlier had the british and americans open for a second front not in one thousand nine hundred four but when they first agreed back in one nine hundred forty two. thoughts on the establishment of an anti hitler coalition began on june twenty seventh one thousand nine hundred forty one

a year later the soviet union the united states and great britain signed a declaration on the opening of the second front in europe. but nine hundred forty two thousand nine hundred forty three passed with no second front to relieve pressure on the soviet union in the east. plans to open a second front were made. but churchill and roosevelt agreed that it would be launched only when it became clear that the russians were caving in. on the contrary they were gaming the hounds are crossing the nineteen thirty nine borders and entering europe but. the long delay in the british and american response had a significant impact on the balance of forces in post-war europe. many in the west are upset about stalin's power to shape the post-war arrangements it makes me want to say where you. should go in the fight sooner hoosegow the other way with another woman. on the april twenty eighth soviet troops encircled the city center and began

an assault on the way stuff. the building was protected by ben's industry river and the bridge crossings had been blown up. troops crossed the spree of four tiny denice from one bank to the other a distance of several dozen meters. they face continuous german fire half of the sailors who were there to secure the crossing died in the shadow of the right stuff . in the seven sailors were given the titles of heroes of the soviet union so maslany in one of them was nikolai. panzerfaust a rocket snapped the control even though there was nothing left for him to do to have a grip the two ends of the cable with his key bernie dining numenta zisha. the race dog was defended by remnants of elite s.s. units personal bodyguards. there were also french

a volunteer is from the charlemagne division of the scandinavian division nordland and a latvian battalion of the fifteenth s.s. division. i mean i'm pretty sure they were crying up from the basement hey one surrender you are where many you are jules the rules couple lot of good in the. of the first of may they changed their tune yvonne we want to surrender they shouted. on april thirtieth hitler committed suicide in the right chancellery but some s.s. units continued resistance. in the evening soviet troops captured to the right stocks top floors for the first time the red flag was hoisted over the bow. of the. a german and seen aircraft concho down that fresh flag was a new budget didn't go on for show that's gone was not held by a man of my battalion not only your bill. on the morning

of may second general helmet vaguely commander of the berlin defense area arrived at the soviet headquarters to sign a cease fire order. which was the first to read and type out that order. frankly i thought it was a very old order there is an almost exact quote from the initial lines. of has committed suicide now living else of the boy therefore we are no longer committed to the oath we have taken considering the situation of the civilian population in berlin and considering the situation of our wounded are hereby order a cease fire and surrender with the consent of the soviet command and if i didn't care to change anything in that saddam the hell with him i said to myself him say what he likes as long as the war comes to an end. soon after the ceasefire order silence fell over central berlin soviet troops took the city under control

the soldiers knew that was the end of the war. then at ten am there was complete silence be that that's the end of it all yes there really is a white flag not a flag really but a white sheet. of the germans showed us another and yet another soon as they start scrambling out of their shelters we to get out into the open hoover with germans a surrendering that's for sure. by the evening of the second of may civilians were out in the streets of berlin. really there are many kids but the adults stayed at home with the russians and come you know it was great heard many stories about them what if they were treated in the same way i did the kids had pill faces they were wearing short pam's some had small holes in their hands and knees when they were given some porridge they rushed home was in the room

and your wishful i saw my sergeant major skipping something else of the pot i found out that the people who were queuing for the food one access from the local theater all skinny and hungry as they stood there sobbing which had them and all of us me that's the russians or. i you know they were afraid of us they thought russians were cossacks but with a long mustache say they were looking us all over thinking where the russians mustaches were your fur hats they wanted to know with me if we were wearing feel caps we were just young boys authentic. on the evening of may eighth marshals you called and representatives of great britain france and the united states signed the act of germany's unconditional surrender at the headquarters of the soviet fifth army in berlin. you happen with common ninth of may we were losing to our hearts content we had found

a big bottle containing ten liters of apple while suddenly there was a deafening noise if you live there it seems they were firing from all sides really but what was a german breakthrough moment when we rushed out we saw fireworks going up in celebration of victory i don't need to tell you that we finished off that bottle in . the berlin operation lasted for sixteen days the soviet. troops lost up to two hundred thousand. according to various estimates of the soviet army lost from eight . between nine hundred forty nine hundred forty five. including civilians a total of twenty seven million soviet people died in the war with germany the losses of the usa and great britain hundred thousand people.

was a result of all casualties and the heroism of off all those and grandfathers it was the result of some heroic deeds. of force in europe not just in africa. hundred thousand victims come to compare to twenty million lives. history of mankind was over sixty five years have passed since. those who survived still remember the victory like it was yesterday they still live with victory in their hearts.