no but still showed images of a gentle sky runs through the city of slovyansk on in soldier historical photos of its capturing the city salutes and calls more. of the good of the children is true for those that will become the hutto. welcome back you're watching r t these are the week's top stories russia mourns the forty six victims of this plane crash in the northwest of the country the aircraft caught fire after a crash landing at a major road just a kilometer of promised this nation's air and poor weather conditions are believed to be the main causes of the tragedy. maybe has seen a surge in the number of civilian casualties from nato airstrikes in the country with the latest bombing reportedly killing fifteen leading officials say over eight

hundred civilians have died since the operation began in march. and the demands for greece to impose tougher budget cuts to secure a fresh bailout sparked mass protests at home and outrage in yet another rescue plan within the law that's made predictions that the euro is on the brink of collapse. next we explore the past and present of the place where a lot of the most bitter battles of the second world war two planes. 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 part in a ceremony by a local monument to commemorate what happened there. on june twenty second one 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 and 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 breast garrisoned. german warplanes similar tames we dropped hundreds of bombs on the fortress soon after infantry a some groups launched the initial ground attack. captain lead. is one of the officers in charge of the fortress defenses. is

dodger aisa often visits the monument to her father on the outskirts of arrest. this picture shows what he looks like me at the even today i guess nervous when i come here was family if i see those events in my mind sighing 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 lawsky was holding out in one of them within two days the defenders have exhausted their ammunition his daughter saw the germans trying to capture her father. of a sudden it was a noisy scene that fonda had claimed he had jumped on to the railings and plunged into the river the germans began firing asked him as a death 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 last month. the german strategy relied on surprise attack to demoralize the adversary from the opening seconds. the sound of the explosions was deafening. 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 nine hundred forty one. a member of the military band asleep in his barracks on the second floor abreast fortress. within minutes of the attack bullets and shells fragments and

riddled the barracks walls. i remember dust all over the place. well. i could barely breathe iraq myself open a blanket. can i heard an order grab your rifles and get downstairs. now i barely had time to pull my poles before rushing down stairs with my platoon. only a few hours later the german plan to move through the russian territory had stalled . every week covered from the initial shock and soldiers remaining in the garrison offered stubborn resistance despite being up numbered nearly two to one by their attackers. and one of our rifle regiments counterattacks the germans faltered and tried to roll back to the gates

but they were met with a shower of bullets there are too. many of the fastest stud there were. at beginning of the huns edmund shown back was born in munich on june twenty second one hundred forty 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 artillery moved from also it's. interesting territory and when they were done i knew we had to go in. the tanks initially but 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 coast were 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 willing the fortress garrison to organize. yes can come on the german command allowed thirty minutes for the destruction of the frontier posts but somehow the health 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 nazi 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. the news. doesn't hear. i have something terrible to tell you. his thoughts. when i was there my girlfriend told me. the war would break out to morrow she was four in the morning. on this one hundred thirty nine two years before the start of the war. between the soviet union and germany had become noticeably warmer foreign ministers of the two states mullet of an ribbentrop sign a non-aggression pact. in september one nine hundred thirty nine german troops invaded. this is german

commander. his tanks capture the breast fortress at that time part of polish territory. this is rare footage i joined i saw that in german military for a 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 are assured we have the most insane knowledge to communicate between the times hedge funds. 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 a 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 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 you can shut your brain. my son slava had one of his it. now he can't hit anything it's all in that's here you know i saw my daughter's hand turning gray one 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 here. at all since and the gravity of the situation. didn't and who. was standing in the. that's when we got scared over who. and when i was told my mother and sister killed rose sitting right here. i took myself away as far as i cooled and of the feet of those who were there in the cellar. in essence the entire curator of the four press. this is a monument to the victims of the wars that first day known as building houses a museum. at its center a famous exhibit and alarm clock the stop kicking 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. was this. awesome of nineteen forty two the fascists massacred fifty four children at an orphanage may have breast and their parents had already died in the war. while for fred tomic amanda was the children's teacher she and the children the forced out of the orphanage and skillets own town as the. vigil of commemoration and sorrow takes place each year in the breast fortress on the night of june twenty first candles are lit and the embers yours veterans can hear 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 nine hundred one the names of many of them are still unknown. seventy six hours of intense fighting. six thousand dead. from several kilometers long. and now there is only one person who cares. to see we are surrounded by garbage everywhere but also there are. on this beach which of course is a. most appropriate signification a symbol of everything that's wrong with our goddamn government allowing not only garbage but to accumulate where so many guys died. a new battle is

going on. will the history be protected. returned to terra one million cooper story on our t.v. . russia would be soon which bryson confusing movie about someone from finest impressions. who train starts on t.v. come. june twenty second midday eight hours after the german attack most of the surviving defenders of the best fortress moved into cellars under the barracks. and his

comrades spent about three days there build back in the nineteenth century the cellars was the direct hits in the aerial bombardment. for the year there was a hospital for the wounded here but while 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. though. 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 portrayed the event but cameramen were unable to film an emerging from sellers with a hands raised as a sign of surrender none of them did that. russian surrender.

through 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 post machine gun fire it's just that was the end of the propaganda. a shortage of water was the biggest problem the defenders faced the western river was nearby but german troops were in control of all approaches to it still have another fighters managed to reach the river several times under the cover of darkness. to reach the west we were sometimes crawling sometimes running. well those used our mess tins or helmets that we didn't go by 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 spotted. no days mining engineers still look 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. 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 glittery 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. those in the nineteenth century the breast 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 garrison. 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. operation barbarossa the german plan to seize soviet 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 this will be. good. stalin was already aware of the barbarous a plan by february not in one little problem was that the germans regularly postpone the invasion. initially was i proven my fifteen i mean while stalin was

desperately trying to delay war until. present fortress where the first assault was launched actually consisted of several forts situated on islands around the main fortification in the center of the eastern fort 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 and untermensch 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 it's the obvious we're not so lucky. to see if they don't name every way you could see signs saying. only oh i intreat for

no entrances it's already during the first days of the war many people in the 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 force dugouts in june one thousand nine hundred one could have. children and women were hiding in there and if all of us lived here. all of us were helping each other. the partisans stayed in the force for about three hours in the daytime 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 frontline. 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. click and the wagon was no more. this image tracer soldiers of the german forty fifth division appeared soon after the assault on the fortress and take over 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 solace that all weapons were the best in the worlds. we were the strongest anyone invest and we believed it. loosely because of all successes in western europe like real peroration in france but it was far from the truth.

these four so with 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. when there are also protests on and many of our fighters particularly the partisans died in this home but i'm just looking through the woods he could see the dead lying in creeps of ten or child they never made his house in the forest. then a group of volunteers sets out on an expedition they call the site 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 in a flask and. the searchers regard so-called medallions as the most valuable. 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. there 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 us state are called each year as more names to the list of breast fortress defenders. this is the

personal record of one of the fighters stick. 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 slops these nice is only surviving relative just recently did she learn of her uncle's fate. and yes not see that what people want to at least see to grief of somebody they loved least cloud listening to and think about that person there is nothing more painful than missing so when my uncle's name was finally reaching on a 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 the eastern for an

inscription discovered on it dates from july twentieth one thousand nine hundred forty one scribbled with a knife and said farewell now. i'm dying but i'm not surrendering. but. nobody surrendered of their own accord. all of those captured wounded people that if it was their will run able to use their weapons. but nobody raised their hands before to the death to the last man there were. hitler and mussolini arrived in august nine hundred forty one for a visit to brest fortress despite official reports claiming that there were no surviving defenders on present. 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 poor kids learn you silly me 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 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 e. of the third reich. church and rest 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. that we must live in peace. it's not that we should forget the past it must not be forgotten. we might forgive. children now play in best 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 or. any coven other survivors of the first battles in the fortress regard these rooms as the cornerstone of their faith in the ultimate victory over fascist troops but can take of his comrades live to see that victory in one thousand nine hundred five nearly four years after those tragic events and rest fortress.

fifteen states this is not a provocation but warmed up. the forms it should stand for you sure the supreme victory strikes they have no idea about the hardships to face. they wanted to says it all of them to the stand for in the army the life of abused me is the most precious thing in the world.