and welcome back you're watching martina live from moscow and john thompson these are headlines two bomb blasts killed twenty seven and leave scores wounded in a coordinated assault on security compounds in the syrian capital damascus attacks come at a sensitive time as the u.n. attempts to broker an end to the violence in the country that's claimed thousands of lives. to belorussians sentenced to death for last year's terror attack on the minsk metro have been executed this despite calls from human rights groups to

reconsider the sentence of. nationalist marchers in la the honoring s.s. veterans sparked concern over the resurgence of the far right groups in the european union and the war that has been widely condemned i think glorification of nazis. coming out from head to the unique urals as we guide you through the russian city of perm that's in our special report next right here on r.t. . a two hour flight east of moscow will land you in a city called. it's one of russia's most populous is minister of capitals and the industrial and cultural center of the european urals. lying on the banks of the comma river it's home to almost one million people and as you take a walk around it's easy to see that this is a russian city trying to create an impression.

permis quickly make you name for itself in the contemporary art world and a generous local government grants means there's something colorful crunchy or just colossal around almost every corner. and right here in the center of the city you can fill in the highlights and it's consent real projects. that is fifteen hundred logs making up a cyrillic letter. and the city's artistic pedigree has been furthering honks by the new contemporary art museum it's been open since two thousand and nine and houses of the rise here unusual and striking exhibits. among the paintings here are of the form of this little sculpture. quite impressive bunch of criminals that. i'm a head of perms public art program now you're believes that the changes are adding

to the city's reputation. broom today is in the vanguard of cultural and social issues which affects not only these particular region you must also the country as a whole this is very important. and it's not just professional artists that are being showcased here. now these six hundred snowmen are all part of a citywide projects designed to get the people more involved in arts and they've all been made fun decorate it. by the local schools. and freezing temperatures are no barrier to a good time and playgrounds are filled with the young and the young at heart. i believe you know moves playing.

well i had a stroll through perms winter wonderland but it seems to me that there's one. very important guy still missing. says hello to follow j.m. was nice to me i'm glad to see you here in perm thank you very much it always hurts that you are quite an unusual for the frost is a true yes i'm a real dyed in the wool father frost complete with a real clear good new year and like to show you some of my winter tricks would be brilliant. and it's clear from the beginning that live is no wooden response and. plays in general i hear the

russians fittest all the frosts i certainly wouldn't want to be on his naughty list . so now i get to find outs and my remote news coordinates it is a sixty nine year old. probably not but we'll see yeah this is great. blimey. look. we. like balance keeping me here and a little help from. all the frosts. bring . me. here ok i didn't break anything.

thankful that i hadn't done any permanent damage my left level to his acrobatics and headed back out into the streets it was time for a little souvenir hunting there are many things more strongly associated with russia than the bear and although you might not see too many running around the streets of perm that doesn't mean you can't find them if you know what to do. if you go down to one particular workshop you're sure of a big surprise. these are the sort of bears you really wouldn't mind but names here and here in there may cause a bit of a superstar because the winner of a golden watch the equivalent. of the teddy bear. his designs have been cleaning up an international competitions for several years now from her postcard bears to her genes characters she's amassed an impressive collection of her own. some of natasha's bears a real antiques including one that's supposed to have

a long to sonic list the second she used to be it told me can you turn to teddy's when a scottish friend will offer some plans to make their clothing now she can put together a new furry friend in around ten hours and she's a pretty good teacher too so that's why she has kindly offered to show me the arts of making your own that's going to some. if i can get this little guy to look a little bit more cuddly. quick tutorial on stuffing my first day i began to look far more healthy when i was ready for something a little more delicate. or that was easier said than done. no fail. and then there was the question of how to get them in the right position and how to deal with the. looks brittle

that's been calls because i'm promising. nine is. quite tricky. but eventually after some minor brain surgery we were ready for the finishing touch on then oh boy. i only according to the test it's only when the eyes go in that the bear actually becomes a bear so. they would think i'm going to be an oscar winner i think is quite lovable. i was finally ready to explore some of the perm region and i started in the southeast in the picture a city of congo back in the eighteenth century congo was considered to be the capital of the urals and it was one of the most important stops along the trade route to siberia but it was one hundred years later with the birth of it spirit son

but it really reached its heyday. meet alexei goodkind the man who became russia's most famous t.v. importer and. boy lovely god is going to tell me a little bit about his life champion hello jean our corner guru earned the title of the t. capital of the russian empire thanks to the merchant aleksey gk in his talent was responsible for the fact that t. was no longer an exotic about bridge it was something excess a built a wall alex he was adopted at the pioneer i discover all sorts of bookends achievements transformed congo and as old as museum is devoted to his life and work it seemed only right to sample his wares well in this case i think we do need to have a cup in his honor so although you know what so we drink to group it just kind of that it is of course james let's go for it

a bit of course musical talk. just below the main exhibition hall is a replica of the nineteenth century russian tea house burned although the brew itself became more affordable and can style not everyone was able to have their tea with all the trimmings. sugar was expensive so much so that ordinary people could not afford it. in their case they drank tea while gazing at the sugar elmwood sugar was suspended from the ceiling to drinkers will just look at the sugar while sucking on the bottom its food their brains and to think in their tea was sweet some of all was also becoming more and more widespread and tea drinking part and parcel of each meal companies like this one were places to take your time and whether you were a merchant striking your deal or just friends enjoying allegedly discussion well it seems they have the roy's idea to me back in the nineteenth century

a fine couple an excellent company if you want it to can. g.b.h. global we know you are doing even here you wish to give you a period where you can be judged it was time to return to the present down on the congo river far more ancient tradition was taking place. i arrived in time for the russian orthodox celebration of a picnic a festival commemorates jesus his baptism and dozens of people were gathering by a hole in the ice to observe the sanctifying of the waters where you. will see the crowd coming in here on mass with as many containers as they can carry

because off to the water's been blessed the russian orthodox people believe that it's become incorruptible and they'll take all this force of home with them to bless themselves their families and their houses. it was a bit of a scramble but at least for now admiral mustaine draw i and i headed off to watch the festivals culmination and one of converse most famous landmarks. this is got to be the region's natural high along its i'm in the congo cave and it's the only ice cave in russia that's equipped for tourist expeditions and these beautiful crystals hang from the walls all year round the caves ventilation system acts like an actual freezer winning the ice near its entrance never forced and stomach tight and starwood might stick aerated ceilings and floors.

it's amazingly beautiful but. it is enough slick rick. became was first documented back in the nineteenth century and it's been a guide to tourists attraction for well over a hundred years. it can be pretty cramped in places but as you move further back the ice receives from the landscape starts to change the whole cave extends almost six kilometers on the ground and this should give you an idea of some of the variations of the size of the cross this one is massive compared to the pole across that we saw right at the beginning and also it's much much warmer and probably about plus two here and back at the start was around minus twelve. underage. the cave reaches a depth of almost sixty metres and it's here of the bottom that you find it's

underground lakes and just for tonight a crowd of the faithful. so once the this is for this here everyone queues up for a quick splash of holy water and a blessing for the priest. and for the bravest believers that's the signal to take the plunge freefall dips into the lake to all of the holy trinity and wash away all their sins from the past year. now and go out most respects for guys like this but. purely for health and safety reasons you understand me i'm missing my whole body in this freezing. so i think i'm going to troy underpay fanie lights. and i may be able to take care of a parking fine something like that. i

made my way out of the cave and away from. the city maybe a beautifully preserved poems with the region's industrial parts but i was ready to take a trip into the countryside to a place with a mysterious. science technology innovation all the developments from around russia we've got the future

coverage. of in a place called. just another piece of poem region country sites but apparently you can have close encounters here with much more than just nature. perms version of area fifty one following sources eighteen encounters and unusual goings on have been reported here i wanted to see if there was anything to get. the going to look for extra terrestrials around. that. i believe. i've got the most experienced. in the business strange things happen in the lab come it's supposed to have its own equivalents of the you triangle some even believe that it's a gateway to

a parallel universe and larry and i believe they can prove what is not what it seems. pretty tricky. but. this part is supposed to be the most active anomalous zone so something weird is going to happen it's very likely to happen right here. and nikolai has an instrument he thinks shows up discrepancies in the areas energy fields through the first. i have brought a few devices with me. check this out this one is interesting because of the text things we can't normally see. there's a pulsing signal. scanning around. if you go kind of like a pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop. which gets

a lot. when i move up. the tone will vary there is infrared radiation here it may affect the operation of appliances and even the human body when you take a photo sometimes tears appear. there is an anomaly here for sure we can hear it. it was certainly something strange afoot and the larry had yet more tales of the unexpected for me. several years ago i came across strange markings in the snow this is what they looked like. snow was only here in this place and seemed to have evaporated there was no snow here. so i saw two squares and something looking like this before. you have been with i think this was left by a u.f.o. . i barely noticed the i was passing but the sun had already started to set if i

was going to see something in the lab it had to happen fast. so i've encountered parallel universes energy anomalies and even lapses in time but i still haven't found any of these pesky aliens and i must be some way to do it. take me to your leader. well i don't know what happened next i seem to have some strange unexplained memory loss aliens or no i needed to head north under three hundred twenty kilometer drive or swish teleportation will take you to one of the area's most populous cities and a genuine industrial powerhouse this place is called seoul accounts and it may be the most important city in the whole of the region they call it russia's salt cellar and it's been supplying the vital minerals of the country for more than six

hundred years. the city lies on the karma river and its name translates to salts of the common it's particularly famous for its potassium chloride which is refined and sold as fertilizer and a trip through the city shows how the process has changed over time. these buildings urge tribute to a boy of all ages they date back to the eighteen eighties and they're the oldest standing salt factory left in russia. all of this is a original equipment and this borehole goes down toward that woman's two hundred meters i found the down there the salt water had a higher concentration and they would pump it out and take it to the furnace house for the next stage of the process. the salt was obtained by about aeration and once it had boiled off from this great big basin here it would have been put up the top ready for the next batch and then it would all been transported by hand and bags

like this this one was personally just for the ladies i can tell you that's about fifty kilos they made on top in those days. but this will give you a better idea of what the poor actually looks like this one was drilled in one thousand nine hundred six i was actually under another old factory the water still flowing and nowadays people basically come and use it as some sort of tonic parities has to be very good for the skin. certainly refreshing. but times have most definitely changed. now a days of course the salts production is a bit more sophisticated so i'll xander in on or about think it's all of the known

just past and so on in the world. something a little bit dark so best to turn this on now we're going down about four hundred twenty five meters and hurt me right said about two minutes. i feel sick of it and. don't tell him. this is rudnick show off number four on the concerns around one point three million tonnes of all from it every month. as we moved on wood it was easy to make out the different layers present on the mines with. it's believed the devil deposits of an ancient siege that flowed through this region around two hundred fifty million years ago and they have some seriously heavy equipment to collect them. so this massive drilling machine is the softs workhorse and weighs about one hundred tons

and excavates almost thirty meters down each scene every shift and i'm going to get a chance to put it into action right. there we get to see. them once it gets going it needs to be empty pretty quickly. so our transport vehicle is coming up here. see that's really the see. this seconds. that ball is going to come down and we should see about the civil war. going into the back here. just gets everywhere you go there's your love that. does not. belong to. the north is false they're into you again.

we are. becomes a trip now. get into position. a little. and. a good. start. to the factory right. despises most around it's believed this mine contains enough salts to last another forty years and they restore rooms to make sure that production continues around the clock but for alexander and the boys the shift was nearly finished i can get over this saw ease and scale of this storeroom it's about twenty metres high and almost two hundred metres long it's like something out of

a hollywood horror movie i keep thinking that some is going to jump out at me from the shadows but just thinking about the scale of the work that must be required to fill this with all makes me tired so i think on that note it's probably time for a well earned cup of tea. and after the journey back to the capital per. deserves a point to week two. of my favorite things about travelling around russia is that it gives me a chance. to try out all the different local cuisines i don't like chilly winter day like today it's the perfect excuse to eat something hoff's i fucking. know this is a city off the moire and hot because palm is famous for its poisonous i'm going to learn how to make one. hello. stores can we cook today i can teach you how to cut our of the cyclone to keep it better be great thanks very much

. and i will. translate as you see paul is tiny supposedly to much to shore towns of daylight's their winter favorite here in perth. ok. it's ok to have a good time of the rolling pin. and then the contents is good and it so we've got chicken breasts with some with some young ones in there as well and a bit of cream that's going to make up off of it because. once each has a generous donor up the edges a sealed and crimp it into a shape that reminded me of. my west country roots help here. used to working with us these pieces to eat in the past is what gives you three each one is handmade and has the reputation of being the best in the city the

restaurant serves them to around fifty guests tonight. gets the best of it now frying them in lots of oil. more space for just better. and after just a couple of minutes they're ready to be plated up and served with this special source appropriate poem treat it the whole thing was just his analysis ok so mustard and the nigger. of course the proof of the force of course you can sue me to. think i'm going to be packing on the winter insulation movies. there's no doubt that if you're visiting russia the region has a great deal to offer a thriving capital that's making an artistic statements natural highlights and an

industrial center that's still going strong off to six hundred years. on slave for the end just in case.

keep. it.