hungry for the full story we've got lead from the biggest issues get a human voice ceased to face with the news makers. of us nine pm here in moscow mornings kevin owen and this is the r t international news channel our top stories tonight signs of a far right surge in western ukraine as victory day celebrations of marred by violent nationalists chanting pro fascist slogans they attacked veterans and prevented them from paying tribute to those in securing the country's freedom in the second world war. nato bombs hit the libyan capital destroying several government buildings in one of the heaviest airstrikes in weeks it comes amid opposition claims of an anti gadhafi uprising building up in tripoli suburbs

something the government denies. and the affairs than one of the fukushima nuclear reactors could collapse after webcam images showed the building was leaning meantime japan's authorities are being criticised for letting evacuees back into the radiation zone. next we reveal the amazing military operation that eventually led to the fall of berlin freeing europe from nazi tyranny. berlin the ashdod home to germany's parliament it was right here the final fight of world war two took place. there are ever fewer surviving witnesses to the events of those days soviet veterans will never forget what happened sixty five years ago show us gunfire corpses flames that's how the right start look by the end of april nine hundred forty one.

german soldiers fought for everything sufficient in berlin to try to stands to the last minute against soviet troops. using more than fifty thousand soldiers and officers died over russian polish and german each of us forty for our own model of the russians for theirs of their own very for ours. then a lesser fortune and the red flag raids on the top of the lifestyle game a nine hundred forty five. became the symbol of victory of soviet people over fascism. see in one nine hundred forty five vassily was an anti-tank gun platoon commander and still keep some outfit he got before assaulting berlin. it occurred the river

this is a map they gave out before the dawn the way and we were supposed to attack the outskirts of berlin at the dawn and before that they gave me a map if you let them you're rich you can. in late january nine hundred forty five the success of the vistula other offensive had gained soviet troops of footholds deep in german territory. causing 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 poles made objective of the red army offensive yet really on the map i measure the distance with a ruler the sixty one kilometers to the outskirts of berlin is only sixty one kilometers and when the allies bombed the flashes of an aircraft shells let the sky like stars. stone stump of the plane short. the battle for poland to have 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. beautified safety for their reserves around burley and were brought up here this was the place where the army's strongest units were concentrated in the was final weeks after the germans also built a formidable defenses extending twenty kilometers west ward from the forward positions of the six and a half kilometers from us and then became for. soviet and german forces were being amassed along the order for the most massive military operation in world history. and 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 aircraft some of those know of operation of that scale in world war two you know could there be any building 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 sultan 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 will not their impression that they have been the overwhelming contributor to our common victory until imprinted on their minds and made us not lead them into losing which will raise grave and formidable difficulties in the future. is stupid above all britain was aiming to see germany destroy those he was on the other hand it wanted the soviet union weakened as much as possible i knew by their real concern was to above the appearance of a new royal to consider 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 army facing them all of them had been moved to eastern front to repulse the soviet offensive. horizon ours known to have asked general simpson whether u.s. troops could take berlin from star wars last as he expected in that case and the same sense that he expected some thirty thousand jesuits asked her eyes and how are sad for 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 stalin called a meeting of his supreme command where he decided that the berlin operation should start in mid april. when you were and i think that if roosevelt hadn't signed on april the twelfth stolen would have agreed to the participation of the western allies forces in the assault on lynn calling seoul residents as a kind of guarantee pool would prevent the allies from stabbing him in the kind.

roosevelt's death prompted the soviet commands to take a resolute action. 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. the british military declassified documents relating to it a few years ago. which received these documents relating to operation unthinkable 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. to say that russia should be forced to succumb to the will of the great britain and the united states here is just one quote from the plane of the operation. to be elimination of russians could only be achieved as a result of the occupation of such areas of metropolitan russia that the war making capacity of a country would be claimed and huge 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 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 for what we now know that off famous by kim philby he was operating in britain at the time top foreign office officials they were doing a very effective job. stephan goldenberg 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 chicago's headquarters he was told to announce to the germans through the loudspeakers of the start of the war's final so he defensive in a few hours time. i said susie because assistant at the new comer general this is impossible with we can't possibly give away military secrets. me instead tenons we can have an interest in keeping casualties to. the

world's most massive preparatory bombardment began it five o'clock in the morning of april sixteenth. thousands of artillery pieces shelled german positions for half an hour. multiple rocket launchers were the first to start up the pounding is so deafening you can't hear a thing and your favorite is somebody shows something into your ear. 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 machine guns. nobody rossiter up a lot could we do in that situation the absolutely nothing you call rogers or that artillery had overwhelming superiority 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 in behind me here zain i mean there were anti-personnel mines all over the place and they do no harm to tanks and when i had to forward the tank units trackless void the mines so that they didn't blow my legs off. to achieve greater effect one hundred forty high powered searchlights allouni of the german positions. marshal to cause idea was to blind the germans to hinder their return fire. without the switch you have to fire this way as though you didn't know where to look because you were blinded by searchlight seeing it couldn't see any detail as if all we saw was a blazing bank of the river system seen. through the germans cielo was the last

defensive line before berlin so the german soldiers defended the highlands with general determination petri tism aside the german army had still other reasons to keep fighting to the bitter end despite the desperate situation. he did go to so that any soldier fleeing 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 they are propaganda had hammered into our heads that we must avoid being taken prisoner by the soviets at all cost and of. the soviet forces expected to overrun the seal heights in a matter of hours. the germans come to their defenses for nearly three days and nights. after a head on frost failed to take the heights soviet troops down flank of the german defenses only venge of 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 a very high. the soviet forces lost tens of thousands of men in a tiny center near the otter. noodles going on i have never seen so many dead bodies as i sold the sailor heights thousands and thousands of men died in a very small plot of land the most terrifying thing of old was those people dying there i knew that the war would be over in a couple of weeks fields but only the red was. after the fall of the seal hides the germans never again offered any organized resistance. some elements of the german army were still trying to fight as advance insurgent army simply swept in the moment. but beat the odds though that we didn't stage it fandor limits because

there was nobody who could protect. because many people die and it's got a flat to the west you know given to them americans a meeting caught it in. one of the biggest german cemeteries is situated not far from berlin in a small town of homa in occupies a few square kilometers. more than twenty thousand german soldiers are buried here most of them were in an s.s. division coast nordland. private harry from seal heights was retreating with the rest of the life army led by general who said. he was running from the advancing soviet army with just one gun in his hands. when his column was entering the town of hall but it could. team under heavy fire. right here the furniture factory was here as the soldiers were there they took us for a soviet column and they opened fire on it so the crossing was covered with dead bodies

and for 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. a private ship again his german column turned out to be in a circle of fire on one side of the street the soviet soldiers were shooting. and on the other side v.s.s. soldiers were fighting back. before when eights were flying from both sides the fighting was intense there were the bakeries now where entertain fortifications they prevented soviet tanks from entering the territory for here 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 hussein's army managed to leave the circle and fled to the west but during those three movies and

how little 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. download the official auntie oakley cation q. on the phone on my pod touch from the sounds to. watch on t.v. life on the go. video on demand policies might build costs and already set speeds now in the palm of your. question.

if. if. the typical german town of torgau on the elbow river like in many provincial cities the pace of life is slow here tore down might never have been known to the world is 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. climb to dob at sixteenth century castle on sand on there they saw a bridge over the alamo river it was blown up by the germans and they saw the soviet soldiers on a string of our side of the commander looked on and william robertson the duke of battle in untrue an american flag on it to be then he climbs to the castle settings on more programmers and look outside into the flag out of the window and that very

moment he heard the whistle of a shell coming from the eastern bank you far someone trying to shoot the window that was a shell from the socialist gun and i would sound a sub washable three of us. the group was through with us so it was a group of people including women but it was approaching the river. we knew that german army officers were hiding on the other bank so it was necessary for us to understand the situation didn't we need to shoot or find an alternative way forward . but finally the soviet soldiers realized in 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 the meeting at the elbow. it happened when the board of the soviet forces encircled berlin and some elements of the red army reached the on the river. the allies from both sides decided to celebrate the meeting.

the american lieutenant william robertson and a soviet lieutenant alexander soon vanished became friends the picture of the two men hugging became a symbol of the end of the second world war. were both the illustrating and i was grinning rather happy to meet each other. we were happy to know that we were the victors but digitally. the first link up of american and soviet troops could have taken place much earlier had the british and americans opened the second front not in one thousand nine hundred four but when they first agreed back in one nine hundred forty two. talks 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. by one nine hundred

forty two one thousand nine hundred three passed with no second french to relieve pressure on the soviet union in the east. plans to open a second front were made. but churchill and roosevelt agree that it would be launched only when it became clear that the russians were caving in thank you or on the contrary that they were gaining a happens by crossing the nineteen thirty nine borders and entering europe by the. 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 look here gentleman from the should go in the fourth sooner who scored the goods by the way with another woman. on the april twenty eighth soviet troops encircled the city center and began an assault on the right stuff. the

building was protected by bans in the spree river and the bridge crossings had been blown up. troops crossed the spree for tiny denice from one tank 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 them via seven sailors are a given the titles of heroes of the soviet union last summer slain and then one of them was nicholai around panzerfaust a rocket snapped to control him there was nothing left for him to do the movement gripped the two ends of the cable with his teasing you thirty turning minetta zisha . the race dog was defended by remnants of elite s.s. units hitler's personal bodyguards. there were also french volunteers from the charlemagne division of the scandinavian division nordland and the 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 where many you are a few rules cup lot but in the ear. of the first of may lake changed. yvonne we want to surrender they shot it. on april thirtieth hitler committed suicide in the right chancellery but some s.s. units continued resistance. in the evening soviet troops captured the right stocks top floors for the first time the red flag was hoisted over the building. of the. german and seen a draft on the showdown that fresh flag was in it but it didn't go on for show that's gone was not. the telly and not the new york deal. on the morning of may second general helmut veiling 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 line so off you're a has committed suicide not living else of in your fate 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 here by order a cease fire and surrender with the consent of the soviet command if i didn't care to change anything and that's all that he held with him i said to myself the world first 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. this is just how at

ten am there was complete silence instant it'll be that that's the end of it all yes there it is a white flag not a flag really but a white sheet. of a gem and so does another and yet another lesson 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. there were many kids but the adults stayed at home the russians had come you know. heard many stories about them. what if they were treated in the same way again the kids had pill faces they were wearing short clams there some had small bowls on their hands and knees when they were given some porridge they rushed home was theirs and there were no whistles i saw my sergeant major skipping something else or the parts 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 element of us me that's the russians or. i you know they were afraid of us they thought russians were cossacks along moustache recently they were looking us all over thinking where the russians mustaches were your first hand they wanted to know with the we were wearing field caps we were just young boys. on the evening of may eighth marshals you caught 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. to get them leukoma ninth of may we were losing to our hearts content we had found a big bottle in hugo containing ten liters of apple while suddenly because there was a deafening noise he could get the same you have they were firing from all sides but

he was a german break through them and when we rushed out we saw fireworks going up in celebration of victory so there you go i don't need to tell you that we finished off that bottle. i am. the berlin operation lasted for sixteen days the soviet troops lost up to two hundred thousand men according to various estimates the soviet army lost from eight and a half to eleven million men between one thousand four hundred one and. forty five . including civilians a total of twenty seven million soviet people died in the war with. the losses of the us a great britain hundred thousand people. was a result of casualties and the heroism of off all those and grandfathers it was the

result. of force in europe not just in africa. hundred thousand victims come to compared to twenty million lives. in the history of mankind it was over sixty five years have passed since. those who survived still remember the victory like it was yesterday they still live with a victory in their hearts.