with twenty four hours a day this is military commission live from the russian capital top stories this hour stuck in the middle with intensified nato bombardments claiming civilian lives and alleged atrocities committed by rebel forces some libyans feel betrayed i thought initially started as a nationwide uprising forces that promised to fight for freedom pose a danger to the population. the u.s. trade goods for bombs in afghanistan a partner announces the withdrawal of more than thirty thousand troops while deadly drone strikes are stepped up sparking fears of more civilian casualties really

seventy thousand americans will still remain in afghanistan after twenty two. years of inciting hatred and discrimination against muslims don't fall right politician get real this noise free from according to the mall many hailed as a win for freedom of expression experts say his trial shows europe's multiculturalism policies have had the opposite effect driving communities. and bringing the best of russia and its heart and soul to a global audience twenty four hours a day party's new documentary channel goes live for the help of the president's policy don't rings the press to russia's culture and history to a global audience through costing in english. well i join me for more on those stories in about thirty minutes from now but before that we talk to those who still remember nazi germany's first offensive against the soviet union which took place in the city of brest in more than a ruse that is next on r.t. . and. rest fortress today it's on the territory of

the sovereign republic of belarus formerly the soviet republic of miller russia the fortress was once the westernmost 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 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 and the rest 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 breast garrisoned. german warplanes some ultimately dropped hundreds of bombs on the fortress soon after infantry assault groups launched the initial ground attack. is one of the officers in charge of the fortress defenses. his doctor i say often visits the monument to her father on the outskirts of rest. this case he shows was he looks like me at the even today i guess nervous when i come here and words fail me if i see those events in my mind sigh 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 luggin or shot last year was holding out in one of them within two days the defenders had exhausted

their ammunition. daughter saw the germans trying to capture her father. of the sudden it was a noise it seemed the truth on the head. he had chum times the gratings and plunged into the river by the germans began firing ask him that's a death in captivity he shouts and those are the last words he addressed to his soldier adamantly. in accordance with their plan to attack the soviet union the germans had amassed three armies close to the border among these armed groups or was the most powerful its mission was to encircle and destroy soviet troops and belorussia and move on to moscow vyas months. the german strategy relied on surprise attack to demoralize the adversary from the hoping psychonauts. the sound of the explosions was deafening before that i had 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 kennicott 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 had riddled the barracks walls. i remember just all over the place. well. i could barely breathe iraq myself open a blanket. and then i heard an order from your rifles and get downstairs. now i barely have time to pull my clothes before rushing downstairs with my platoon were there. only

a few hours later the german plan to move through the russian territory had stalled . every week covered from the initial shock soldiers remaining in the garrison offered stubborn resistance despite being a number nearly two to one by their attackers. one of our rifle regiments counterattacks the german soldier one tried to roll back to the gates but they were met with a shower of bullets there too. money of the fastest style there. the beginning of the huns edmund shone back was born in munich on june twenty second one thousand nine hundred one he was among the german troops who entered the russia. shortly before that he had been called up from high school and sent to the eastern front to serve in a panzer unit. a huge force terrifying wave of german.

from also it's. interesting sarah chayes when they were done we knew we had to go in. like another tanks 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 actually. today the border between belarus and poem follows the same line along which soviet front here post were once deploy. 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 billing the fortress garrison to organize its defense. yes and come on the german command allowed thirty minutes for the destruction of the frontier posts but some held out from one to seven days repulsing 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 he 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. love amir. i have something terrible to tell you. his thoughts. when i was there my girlfriend told me. that a war would break out to morrow four in the morning.

on this one hundred thirty nine two years before the start of the war relations between the soviet union and germany have become noticeably warmer foreign ministers of the two states mullet oven ribbentrop sign a non-aggression pact. in september nine hundred thirty nine german troops invaded. this is german commander hines goody on his tanks captured the breast fortress at that time part of polish territory. this is rare footage i joined saw that in german military parade in accordance with a secret deal to divide europe the german military hands breast over to soviet troops in less than two years time gooding on will again launch an assault on breast fortress fighting against the same troops in also lists in the interim dispenser units will have gained valuable experience in successful offensive

operations in europe. and. assured we have the most insane knowledge and communicate between the time next headphones. and that allowed us to react small quickly. the russian tanks couldn't communicate with each other. whereas we could for example withdraw and then attack 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. the name of the measure. they told us women and children to lie down on the bridge close to watch every piece is. can you imagine four or five guns firing it's

a time it can shatter your brain like. my son slava had one of his it. now he can't hit anything it's all in that's here yes i saw my daughter's hand turning gray. after another. she was only a little kid. alexander mccall was only six years old in one nine hundred forty one he and his parents were living in breast fortress he spent two days in the so-called magazine at the start of the war he was wounded and lost his entire family. at all since and rest the gravity of the situation. didn't and. that's when we got scared over who. and when i saw my mother and sister killed

while sitting right here. i thought to myself away as far as i cooled on the feet of those who were there in the cellar. in essence the entire territory of the fortress. this is a monument to the victims of the wars of first days known as building houses a museum. at a center a famous exhibit an alarm clock the stock 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 of kabul in the awesome of nine hundred forty two the fascists massacred fifty four children at an orphanage in the abreast while their parents had already died in the war. while french army commander was the children's teacher was she and the children the full

stout of the orphanage and kilt all of them just. a vigil of commemoration and sorrow case place each year in the breast fortress on the night of june twenty first candles are lit in the embers yours 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 and rest fortress in june one thousand forty one the names of many of them are still unknown. wealthy british style sign. that the.

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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 work attendee code and his comrades spent about three days there back in the nineteenth century the cellars was to direct hits in the aerial bombardment. of the year there was a hospital for the wounded here but while the makeshift mortuary was over there at the end of the corners 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 begun to melt well before the fighters continued their resistance as they shifted from one place to another. this is how the german war correspondents pro-trade the ever. what cameraman were unable to film and emerging from some as with the hands raised as a sign of surrender none of them did get. their way this russian sub brenda german shelter a loudspeaker. we know that will let you live don't be afraid they say it. with some of the spot of the loudspeaker they hit it with a burst of machine gun fire. and that was the end of the propaganda that's about it that. a shortage of water was the biggest problem the defenders faced the western move river was nearby but german troops were in control of all approaches to it still the author could have another five years managed to reach

the river several times under the cover of darkness. we were sometimes crawling sometimes running. their mess to our helmets then trying to make no noise we had to do with the germans fired flares all the time they certainly would have opened fire if they spoke. no days mining engineers for 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. to shell 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 rest 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 seventy thousand strong soviet garrison. 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. a german plan to seize soviet territory was ready in december nineteen fourteen but most of the soviet leaders as soon that hitler would target britain first

before unleashing any attack on the soviet. brought it. stalin was already aware of the body plan by february not in forty one the problem was that the germans regularly postpone the invasion. initially was i proven my fifteen main while stalin was disbelief trying to delay war until autumn with. the. rest fortress where the first assault was launched actually consisted of several forts situated on islands around the main fortification in the 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 on demand a second rate person. there's a toilet that really even public tell this in hospitals could not be used but everybody johns had decent food the outis were not so lucky. to see if they donate every way you could see a sign saying. it's only oh i. know and turned its already during the first days of the war many people in breast and its environs started sneaking out of town. and the force of belorussia they form groups of guerrilla warfare. learn new skills and those of a machine gun are here in the forest dugouts in june nine hundred forty one. children women will flooding in there and if all of us leave here and all of us were helping each other. the partisans stayed in the force for about three.

a 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. place roses 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 more. this image array for soldiers of the german forty fifth division appeared 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. russia they encountered the most ferocious resistance to date. and. the best solace that all weapons were the

best in the worlds. we were the strongest anyone invest and we believed it. mostly because of our successes in western europe but we operate in france but it was far from the truth and. these forests over the 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 there are also. many of our fighters particularly in a partisan style in this film but i'm just looking through the woods you can see the dead lying in groups of ten all trials they never made a house in the forest. and then

a group of volunteers sets out on an expedition they comb the site and meter after meter. weapons and other objects made of metal keep fairly well underground. this is a soviet helmet it was a direct hit. you can see where the shot entered and exited. turns to base the objects are carefully examined the latest expedition has turned up. a flask. but the searchers regard so-called medallions as the most valuable. these are small pieces containing all important papers they carry the information that will help identify the soldier his age rank and the name of the town or village where he was called up. 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 are sent to officials a state or. each year adds more names to the list of breast fortress defenders. this is the personal record of one of the fighters step on studies lofsky his identity was verified just a few years ago. no his name is inscribed on a memorial wall in the central alley of breast fortress it has replaced another place saying unknown soldier study sloughs he's niece is his only surviving relative just recently did she learn of her uncle's fate. then yes next think that which he told once with me see the grief of somebody to love to place flowers sanat and think about that person there is nothing more painful than they were missing 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 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. nobody surrendered of their own accord. all of those captured wounded people. just because there were unable to use their weapons. but nobody raised their hands before to the death to the last minute there were. hitler and mussolini arrived in august one thousand nine hundred one for

a visit to breast fortress despite official reports claiming that there were no surviving unpresidential defenders. the security precautions were put in place. on the eve of the top level visits to german soldiers patrolling an area near the fortress had disappear. for fear of hitler and mussolini entered 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 but even took a stone lying amongst the ruins with them. 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. but we must live in peace. it's not that we should forget the past it must not be forgotten. but we might forgive. children now play invest fortress where military hardware getting 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 pilcher could see any coven other survivors of the first battles in the fortress regard these rooms as the cornerstone of their faith and the ultimate victory over fascist troops a journey covered his comrades lived to see that victory in one thousand nine hundred five nearly four years after those tragic events and rest fortress.

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