as for bush's first she watched what she told school and. she'll. leave the future. this is the r t international news channel from moscow thank you for being with us kevin i was co-chair headline of a point a plane crash in northwest russia claims another life today bringing the death toll to forty five experts are investigating the evidence from the site stoppage the pools of money places are stuck early reports suggest pilot error could be to play . ninety terrorist operation in russia's north caucasus is underway with reports suggesting special forces have suffered losses in an attack on a militant hideout at least seven offices reported to have been killed in come

fights with thirty strumpets group. the greek government wins a vote of confidence as it struggles for support of its savage spending cuts they need to be asked to secure a new bailout but thousands of angry greeks are protesting against the new measures saying their voices are not free. from the former soviet republics remember the victims of the war against fascism wednesday marks the seventieth anniversary of the nazi invasion of the u.s.s.r. some twenty seven many people died to bring about victory for the eastern front and . side thirty one that's the nazi we talked to some of those who still remember nazi germany's first offensive against the soviet union that took place in the city of breast. and. rest fortress today it's on the territory of the sovereign republic of belarus formerly the soviet republic of belarus a fortress was once the western most outpost of the soviet empire each day

schoolchildren in the town of brest take part in a ceremony by a local monument to commemorate what happened there. on june twenty second one thousand nine hundred forty one german fashion forces invaded the soviet union without a declaration of war the defenders of the breast fortress found themselves in a dead end situation it is here that the myth about the invincibility of the german army was broken after the end of the war the breast fortress as a name became synonymous to perseverance courage and belief in victory for years to come. the early hours of june twenty second nineteen forty one german artillery unleashes a massive barrage from the present garrison. german warplanes some

ultimately dropped hundreds of bombs on the fortress soon after infantry assault groups launched the initial ground attack. captain. is one of the officers in charge of the fortress defenses. is not here i say often visits the monument to her father on the outskirts of rest. this case shows what's he look like me at the even today i guess nervous when i come here was fanny i see those events in my mind's eye as if they were yesterday. today children play war in the old case mates but in the first days of the real war the unit under the command of lucky mashad last he was holding out in one of them within two days the defenders had exhausted their ammunition loves his daughter saw the germans trying to capture her father. of the sudden it was

a noisy scene that fonda had claimed he had jumped on to the railings and plunged into the risen by the germans began firing to ask him that suggests in captivity he shouted those were the last words he attracts to his soul which adamantly. in accordance with their plan to attack the soviet union the germans had amassed three armies close to the border among these army groups or was the most powerful its mission was to encircle and destroy soviet troops and belorussia and move on to moscow via small and. the german strategy relied on surprise attack to demoralize the adversary from the opening seconds. the sound of the explosions was deafening. that i have seen war only in films. i thought it was an earthquake i just couldn't believe there was

a war going on. the first hours of june twenty second one thousand forty one from cancer to any kind of a member of the military band asleep in his barracks on the second floor of breast fortress. within minutes of the attack bullets and shells fragments and riddled the barracks wall. i remember dosed all over the place. well. i could barely breathe iraq myself blankets. then i heard an order grab your rifles and get downstairs. i barely had time to pull my clothes before listening downstairs with my platoon. only a few hours later the german plan to move through the russian territory heads. every week covered from the initial shock the soviet soldiers remaining in the garrison

offered stubborn resistance despite being numbered nearly two to one by their attackers. one of our rifle regiments counterattacks the german. one tried to roll back to the gates but they were met with a shower of bullets there two. of the fastest side there at. the beginning of the huns edmund shawn back was born in munich on june twenty second one hundred forty one he was among the german troops who entered belorussia. shortly before that he had been called up from high school and sent to the eastern front to serve in a panzer unit. it's a huge force terrifying wave of german artillery moved from also it. into russian territory and when they were done we knew we had to go in. another thanks initially

when i saw the first horribly injured german soldiers and it wasn't just me we all knew what would happen and it was terrible. the border between belarus and poem follows the same line along which soviet frontier post where once deployed. it was they who bore the brunt of the nazi invasion for several days small arms were the only weapons the border guards can nevertheless they held up the advance of german troops and tanks for some time and they milling the fortress garrison to organize defense. yes can come on to the german command allowed thirty minutes for the destruction of the frontier posts but some held out from one to seven days proposing one attack after another. these pillboxes on the border were built shortly before the war but they were never used supplies and ammunition for the machine guns had been scheduled to arrive the

day after the nats invasion of soviet territory. was in command of one of the pill boxes it was officer on duty the day before the start of the war this picture shows or so i would encourage his friend nikolai a fellow servicemen returning from a night of dancing in breastplate on june twenty first. when used to let her. brother near. i have something terrible to tell you which. shows thoughts. when i was there my girlfriend told me. that a war would break out tomorrow four in the morning. on there's nine hundred thirty nine two years before the start of the war relations between the soviet union and germany had become noticeably warmer foreign ministers

of the two states than ribbentrop sign a non-aggression pact. in september one nine hundred thirty nine german troops invaded. this is german commander hines on his tanks capture the brest fortress at that time part of polish territory. this is rare footage joint saw that in german military parades in accordance with the secret deal to divide the german military hands breast over to soviet troops in less than two years' time leon will again launch an assault on breast fortress fighting against the same troops lives in the interim dispenser units will have gained valuable experience in successful offensive operations in europe. and. assure we have the most insane knowledge change to

communicate between the tax hedge funds. and that allowed us to react small quickly the the russian tanks couldn't communicate with each other whereas we could for example withdraw and then it's time from the science. june twenty fourth one of the most tragic days for the defenders of the fortress during another attempted assault by nancy hughes the russian officers wife and children as a human shield on this bridge. they told us women and children to lie down on the bridge close to monterrey pieces. can you imagine four or five guns firing is a time it can shatter your brain. my son slava had one of his it.

now he can't hit anything at all in that's here yet i saw my daughter's hand nina turning gray. after another. she was only a little kid. alexander mccall was only six years old in one thousand forty one he and his parents were living in brest fortress he spent two days in the so-called powder magazine at the start of the war he was wounded and lost his entire family. at all since and the gravity of the situation. didn't. come later. that's when we got scared over pluto. and when i was told my mother and sister killed while sitting right here. i took myself away as far as i cooled under the feet of those who were in the cellar. in

essence the entire territory of the fortress. it is a monument to the victims of the wars of first days now this building houses a museum. at its center a famous exhibit and alarm clock the stop ticking as soon as the war began. another exhibit is dedicated to the children of red army commanders who fought in the fortress many of them were murdered by s.s. task forces in one thousand nine hundred two a year after german troops attacked the soviet union. forces total sum of one thousand forty two the fascists massacred fifty four children as an orphanage we have pressed that parents had already died in the war. that my for fred tomic amanda was the children's teacher was she and the children with almost out of the orphanage and skillets them just. a vigil of commemoration and

sorrow takes place each year in the breast fortress on the night of june twenty first candles are lit and then brush your veterans come here from all over the former soviet union a slide show features pictures of the red army commanding officers who took part in the defense of breast fortress after the ceremony border guard soldiers float a reserve in the western movie river to commemorate the people whose lives were cut short in breast fortress in june one thousand forty one the names of many of them are still unknown.

wealthy british style. market fina. come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with months concert for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune in to kaiser report on. june twenty second midday eight hours after the german attack most of the surviving defenders of the breast fortress moved into cellars under the barracks just or kenny co and his comrades spent about three days there back in the nineteenth century cellars withstood direct hits in the aerial bombardment. improve your mood

there was a hospital for the wounded here. the makeshift mortuary was over there at the end of the chorus or more the german command demanded that the defenders lay down their arms and surrender when they turned down the ultimatum german assault groups used flame throwers to flush them out. the heat was so intense that even bricks began to melt. the fighters continued their resistance as they shifted from one place to another. this is how german war correspondents pro-trade the event but cameramen were unable to film an emerging from sellers with their hands raised as a sign of surrender none of them did that. there were a russian surrender her little german shepherd through a loudspeaker. we know that we'll let you live don't be afraid they say it.

with some of the spotted the loudspeaker they hit it with a burst of machine gun fire it's pretty obvious that was the end of the propaganda that's a pretty quick. a shortage of water was the biggest problem the defenders faced. at western bug river was nearby but german troops were in control of all approaches to it still haven't other fighters managed to reach the river several times under the cover of darkness. to reach the west we were sometimes crawling sometimes running. to. the ridicule by trying to make no noise we had to do with the germans fired flares old time they certainly would have opened fire if they. know days mining engineers or wartime ammunition in the western. one of the latest finds is

a german two hundred ten millimeter artillery shell. is just as dangerous today as it was sixty eight years ago. careful slowly slowly don't turn it over. most of the show could go off at any moment if it's not handled properly if it does judging by its size it will deliberate everything within a radius of about five hundred meters. on the average day divers pick up three to ten objects relating to the first days of the war. in the nineteenth century the brest fortress was long considered impenetrable they outer walls were two meters thick. in the twentieth century it was in effect a death trap for the seven thousand strong soviet garson. from the start of the war all the fortresses gates were continuously under artillery and machine gun fire

they were also blocked by attacking enemy troops as a result fewer than half of the men who were sheer on june twenty second were able to leave the fortress and protect the border. on. the german plan to seize still the territory was ready in december nineteen forty but most of the soviet leaders as soon as hitler would target britain first before unleashing any attack on the soviet. one but a. stalin was already aware of the bobber plan by february not in forty one the problem was that the germans regularly postpone the and. initially it was i proven my fifteen meanwhile stalin was desperately trying to delay war until autumn with the. breast fortress where the first assault was launched actually consisted of several forts situated on islands around the main fortification in the center the

eastern seaboard offered the most stubborn resistance. most of the fortress defenders still expected reinforcements down to the end they did know they were already well behind enemy lines germans has seized the town of brest within hours. abreast residents lived under occupation for nearly three years when the germans came she was told that she was now an untermensch a second rate person. there's a toilet that even public tell this in hospitals could not be used by everybody johns had decent troops the obvious were not so lucky joe misspelled they were to see if they donate every way you could see a sign saying. it's only oh i. know and it's already during the first days of the war many people in breast and its environs started sneaking out of town. in the forcible russia they

form groups of guerrilla warfare. because love learn new skills and those of a machine gun are here in the forest dugouts in june one thousand nine hundred one could have. children and women were hiding in there and if all of us lived here and all of us were helping each other. the partisans stayed in the force for about three. day time they carried out reconnaissance and secret monitoring of the enemy in the evening they were engaged in special operations. forces use this railway to bring military hardware to the front line. exposes were placed under this truck so that nobody could see them and. the germans sent reconnaissance parties to check the tracks but that didn't help a lot of scouts and a little as the train came closer we singled out the way in carrying military

equipment to be blown up. quick and the wagon was no mole. this imagery for soldiers of the german forty fifth division at geared soon after the assault on the fortress and takeover of the town of brest german troops had already swept across poland france and much of europe but in storming the russia they encountered the most ferocious resistance to date. and. the best bit solace that all weapons were the best in the world's alex. we were the strongest anyone invests and we believed it. mostly because of our successes in western europe like we operate in france but it was far from the truth and. these four soviet memorials commemorate fighters whose bodies have been recovered by search parties since the war searching for missing soldiers is

a long and complicated process. first the head of a search group asks locals where exactly the fighting took place what with their also good. many of our fighters particularly the partisans died in this moment but i'm just looking through the woods you can see the dead lying in groups of ten or child they never made it out of the forest. and then a group of volunteers sets out on an expedition they comb the site a meter after meter. weapons and other objects made of metal really well underground. this is a soviet helmet it was a direct hit. you can see where the shot entered and exited. the returns to base the objects are carefully examined the latest expedition has turned up. a flask and medals. but the searchers regard so-called medallions

as the most valuable find. these are small cases containing all important papers they carry the information that will help identify the soldier his age rank and the name of town or village where he was called up. or it just so happens that we're from the same place as the dead soldier we're going to look for his relatives now one more fallen soldier has a name. if papers identifying the dead are found they're sent to officials or state are caught each year adds more names to the list of breast fortress defenders. this is the personal record of one of the fighters stip armstrong is lofsky his identity was verified just a few years ago. now his name is inscribed on

a memorial wall in the central alley of breast fortress it has replaced another plate saying unknown soldier study sloughs he's nice is his only surviving relative just recently did she learn of her uncle's fate. and yes not think that people once with me see the grief of somebody they loved least flourescent and think about a person there is nothing more painful than the witnessing so when my uncle's name was finally written on the memorial plate it was a very touching moment for my family. the last defenders of breast fortress repelled german attacks for nearly a month in the one nine hundred sixty s. the museum received a fragment of the inner wall of one of the case mates of eastern for an inscription discovered on it dates from july twentieth one thousand nine hundred forty one scribbled with a knife and said farewell my. i'm dying but i'm not surrendering. but

you will hear is that nobody surrendered in their own accord. all of those captured were wounded people. just because there were unable to use their weapons. but nobody raised their hands before to the death to the last minute. hitler and mussolini arrived in august one hundred forty one for a visit to brest fortress despite official reports claiming that there were no surviving unpresidential defenders. security precautions were put in place. on the eve of the top level visits to german soldiers patrolling an area near the fortress and disappear. for your kid learn use illini enter the fortress through a bridge that used to be right here where hitler saw here is known to have made a strong impression on him and even took a stone lying amongst the ruins with him. after the fall of berlin the stone was

found in hitler's office at the chancellor of the third reich. church in breast fortress. there are traces of shells on the walls and inside the dome. it was from here that the defenders of breast fortress launched their first counterattack. scores of german and soviet soldiers died here. the time has come for mutual forgiveness. we must live in peace. it's not always to forget the past it must not be forgotten. but we might forgive. children now play in breast fortress where military hardware dating back to the one nine hundred forty s. is on display they knew about that war only from books and films. on holidays veterans told tourists about the war. of another survivors of the first battles in

the fortress regard these rooms as the cornerstone of their faith in the ultimate victory over fashions troops can think of as comrades lived to see that victory in one thousand nine hundred five nearly four years after those tragic events and rest fortress.

an. the a. mother limitlessly elitists. it's just so.