your with our live from moscow and a recap of our top stories in just a moment. issues that so much. returning to the russian presidency for the third time putin has pledged to unify the country and continue reforms to expand the economy. a lot of the russian capital this is our. breaking news story for you a brand new russian passenger plane the sukhoi superjet one hundred has gone missing during a flight over with fifty people on board authorities in jakarta are searching for the craft but the operations being complicated by nightfall and bad weather officials say the plane may have crashed but they are not ruling out of possible

hijacking. and we do have the latest pictures of the line of that are being posted by russian blogger i will get you those pictures of for you shortly here on our do you bear in mind we also are posting all of this information on dot com here we have the latest sukhoi superjet one hundred alternately it was on a sales pitch in asia carrying out its second demonstration flight of the day the russian crew is mostly russian over there also at least thirty six international passage of passengers on board a fifty totaling the number of people onboard that plane research efforts and certainly investigators focusing around a mountain about thirty two miles away from jakarta as we've been reporting here on r t it's nighttime there now helicopters in the search and rescue have been grounded for now we'll keep you posted on this developing breaking news story here on r.t. of course for now though we turn to syria where reports of violence continue despite

the u.n. backed peace plan historian and political analyst appear to c.n.n. who recently returned from the country says the same powers who are backing the u.n. peace initiative are also the ones who are fueling the conflict. today we're sitting down with here pitching in he's a historian and political analyst specializing on the arab world he's traveled extensively to the countries that have gone through the so-called arab spring and he's also written extensively on these countries the most recent one being syria thanks very much for joining us today thank you for the first question we'd like to know ways we've been to syria the most latest a country you've had for a couple of times what was your goal in going to that country. in. syria is a country that is very much diverse in terms of ethnic and religious groups you have to be inside syria to understand what is really happening there on the ground

my goal was to get reliable information us so i had to screen all the reports coming from the western news agencies magazines and other media i did some research and found out that there are actually two rival syrian human rights groups that monitor developments and supply the bulk of information to the west you know what i discovered too was that the uprising was supported by a minority of the population which differs from what the western media are saying when they quote the syrian observatory for human rights also this eerie an opposition is very much divided they do not share the same goals and they use different methods to reach their goals but actually i never question the credibility of the information that was coming from the region on my way to syria i thought i would see a country torn apart by a raging conflict a country aflame with revolution a country where it would be extremely hard to move around so i was very much surprised when i was given a reason i mean these stories that it's so difficult to get into syria or sort of

know if you. don't buy some of the right saying you've talked to the opposition various within the opposition can you tell us about what you discussed with them and how you would assess that. with your singing first there is no such thing as a single opposition in fact that there are many opposition groups and some of them are in conflict with each other. i'll try to present you with a clearer picture there are two hot heads of discontent with one in the city of hama where the muslim brotherhood led an uprising in the one nine hundred eighty s. and there are demonstrations that took place there were peaceful there in july the syrian army surrounded the city but stopped short of occupying a security early in august the army moved into the city and establish control over it and they've been these demonstrations are continuing the army and the police are present there to prevent the protesters from accessing major squares in the streets with the protesters to throw stones at the police from time to time but it's a sort of intifada within these rallies are

a very moving and exciting event but they never turn violent so the army does not have to respond although the media often say it that the police opened fire on protesters and yeah it's not true at least i mean i have never seen any use of weapons then of the homes and other historical center of discontent has become the fighting ground for many armed rebel groups you know you know so i was there with the residents of homs and i would call the members of the civil opposition because these were ordinary people who took up any weapons they could find and defended their neighborhoods from the army in fact they were very badly aren't as you however along with this civil uprising we have witnessed a much more dangerous one gash i'm talking about the islamist movement which is fighting in homs it's mainly represented by the farmer brigade which originally even before the revolution was a terrorist and the shiite organization does operate in homs too but the rebellious city residents do not want anything to do with this also there are insurgents who

called themselves the free syrian army it has been active on the border with turkey and lebanon mean the free syrian army has been using refugee camps in northern lebanon and turkey's have type provinces as their bases they get food and training their adult life. trained along with urban guerrillas and helped by the french army you can read about it in the french newspaper for example in luck. of this if these rebels then cross the border and again raid neighboring towns and cities in syria you know who are they were desert but there are not many of them the syrian army has largely remained loyal to the government there are fighters who came from libya qatar and saudi arabia so it's not quite clear what kind of force the free syrian army is sort of with me as for the armed opposition groups inside syria there are also several salafi groups who are responsible for terrorist acts and times on this commission horrendous atrocities while they may kidnap their opponents execute them cut corpses into pieces and leave them in the neighborhood. how do we classify this

movement in syria then is it a civil war is it an uprising is it a revolution. i think it is a revolution i think we can say that it is but there are islamic groups in syria that are trying to use this situation and turn syria into an islamic republic something like a salafi caliphate in a way this is similar to what happened in libya there was a civil war between tribal clans and now a group of salafi is represented in the new government of libya so the same is happening in mali this problem has recently become a popular topic of discussion islamist groups spread throughout the sahara and got into sub-saharan african countries. but there is something unhealthy about these groups acting alongside the revolutionaries ordered field it's impossible to identify or contact them if they are truly secretive groups. now you've been critical about the usage as well as the reports on the syrian observatory for human

rights but in a scenario like this it will be very difficult. to clarify very fight every single death in the country and what would the fifty deaths how would it be different to five hundred deaths how do you put that into context of what you said what is your criticism based on. interviews first of all i don't think it's too hard to have a more or less clear idea about what's happening in syria but i've been able to visit the country twice in the last six months i rented a car drove all over syria was able to go even to hama and homs i was never detained at any military checkpoints the western media choose to rely exclusively on the syrian observatory for human rights of and i published the results of my investigation in the african magazine last month there i say that there are two such observatories and that they are both connected with the opposition and that in reality these organizations are the oppositions propaganda agencies propaganda

tools i don't understand why the media choose to use them as a source says it is part of the. journalists job to think critically verify sources and be extremely cautious but if they decide to just spread the information they received from the syrian observatory for human rights without asking any questions to let me give you a clear answer to your question i am saying that several dozens were killed in the armed conflict you know they were journalists are talking about reprisals by the regime if the government attacks peaceful protesters we can call it reprisals but if the syrian authorities are dealing with an army based in refugee camps in lebanon and turkey financed from qatar and trained by the french army it's not repression the regime is defending its territory from foreign aggression since the beginning of the crisis the government has always stuck to one line which is these are armed groups or they're supported by outsiders by foreigners. are they blind to

what is happening in the country to the past or the possibility that this is a we will revolution are they right are they how would you assess the government's stand. and also could you agree on the first of all as for the government's rhetoric i don't believe the syrian government is blind you know rhetoric and reality are two different things syria's government is in denial of the fact that a revolution is taking place they are talking about some foreign conspiracy about israel and the u.s. plotting against syria more than any my analysis of the situation is completely different and i think that starting with two thousand and one after nine eleven the u.s. chose to cooperate closer with the syrian government and they both discovered a mutual enemy the islamic values and i think that the u.s. is very unhappy with what is going on now here in israel is also very concerned now on should the syrian regime collapse the country could sink into chaos and then israel will have significant problems with what and where is now despite the prevailing anti israeli rhetoric in damascus israel is in fact quite comfortable

with the current regime in reality i mean they're getting along pretty well you know at the moment we see that the. regime has successfully established control over most of homs as well as over it leave in hama and is fighting the free syrian army on the borders of them or the regime is far from collapsing it's nowhere near a downfall the only sad has a lot of sunny days ahead of him many people ask me how can you say such things you're advocating the regime no i'm not advocating the regime i'm doing my research and i want to see what happens on the ground and i take the facts and draw conclusions that are going to fish. bashar al assad has agreed on the peace by presented by coffee at nine but bashar al assad has made a lot of promises in the past and a lot of them did not do you think is going to make good on his promise this time for a cease fire on this this place one. term of him or part of it kofi

annan plan wasn't very well timed but the more as far as the syrian government is concerned you can't really demand things from the government when it has the upper hand and is defeat on the free syrian army at the moment see the government biggest problem is cross border raids from refugee camps in turkey and lebanon so what happens is that if you well the government gets the upper hand and is defeating the free syrian army a demand comes in to stop the violence and it comes from those who help the free syrian army conduct their training guitar and france were directly involved in helping them get new arms advanced and heavy weaponry and help them reorganize and review their strategy but you cannot demand this from the government it is certainly a dictatorship but it's a legitimate government according to international law under the westphalian system and it's suppressing an armed revolt to reestablish control over its territory i understand that bashar assad said yes we should comply with the plan and it will stop the violence because he wanted to buy some time but in reality they continue

their offensive against the free syrian army and frankly speaking i find it quite consistent and logical. so how do you see the syrian conflict. at all. unless of course there is an intervention from outside office i expect that the baathist government will be able to control the situation with military force after that i think it will conduct aggressive reforms to develop democracy so this might even be a formal democracy at the initial stage i believe the swing people to a large degree this democracy will be formals yet civil society is awakening and making its position known and in the future you're going the government will have to make a turn towards a real democracy but how can you speak about democracy or democratic change with the new constitution approved in syria what allow bashar al assad to stay on for many more years since. it is a transitional period which is absolutely necessary when the you can't expect too

much straightaway you saw what happened to more market duffey in libya you saw what happened in tunisia and egypt but i think the situations are similar neither the government of bashar assad nor any other government is ready to allow bloodshed i also think that the moderate opposition and there is moderate opposition in syria which is not ready to take up arms the moderate opposition realizes you know that a transitional period of five to ten years will be necessary in order to accomplish this change peacefully without the country being engulfed in civil war. here pitched it in thanks very much for your time. at home it seems. to be so much brighter if you live

a song from finest impression. don't see. a recap of our breaking news here on the brand new russian passenger plane the sukhoi superjet one hundred has gone missing during a flight over indonesia with fifty people on board authorities in jakarta for the craft but the operations being complicated by nightfall and bad weather officials say the plane may have crashed but they are not ruling out a possible hijacking. and here we have pictures of the line posted by russian blogger. who was supposed to be on the flight but decided not to go. on a sales pitch in asia and was carrying out its second demonstration flight of the day by the crew is russian but there are also international passengers on board

mostly indonesians as it is now focusing around a mountain some thirty two miles from jakarta do stay with us here for more on the developing breaking news story. thanks rory the sporting headlines this hour are not. final comment on spanish sides up that it builds on a let me call madrid prepared to head to head battle in the europa league decider later tonight. remembering the fallen russian football legends gather victory park to pay their respects to those who died during the second world war. and off the mark world number one on defending champion novak djokovic twinned his opening run clash at the madrid masters despite that challenging day on court. for

the first where we have a brand new name on the russian cup rypien left to celebrate their first ever triumph in the competition following victory over moscow after twelve months of action the last two sides were left to slug it out and you can't remember getting a cagey her through right in the all russian premier league clash on a losing creasing looking like extra time before her brains alexi. put paid to the buying home of the absolute scorcher a dozen minutes from time one the final score then delight for the tatarstan i fit well as wait for a cup conquest now stretches to eighteen years. is also a title for grabs on the continent this evening bucharest the place to be as the roumanian capital plays host to the old spanish europa league final between let it build on that let it go madrid let it cool with the most recent pedigree winning the competition two years ago simone

a side will start to slide favorites this evening there and beaten run goes back seven matches on their also on the verge of qualification for next year's champions league key defender lewis pereira will be a welcome addition to the first eleven. for recovering from a five problem but midfielder tiago is suspended. now this season is the first time in thirty five years that they reached the final of what was then new if a cup marcello with a fully fit squad to choose from he's also rested a number of players in the league over the weekend the side with the chance to do a double this season they take on barcelona in the final of the copper del rey in a fortnight's time host of russian football legends have been paying tribute to those who fell during the second world war members of the soviet union's olympic and european championship winning teams gathering of moscow's victory park monument trim ember the dead michael reports. it's pretty much the dream for any

boy growing up to become a football hero but few would have had as difficult a time achieving that dream than those growing up during wartime. when i was four and living in console feast russia when the war broke out but despite the fact that the forces had taken control of the c.t. we boys continued to play football you know courtyards because advantage we had no idea what was going on is exactly kids like victor when you're dealing who then went on to create the u.s. has some golden era in football. during a ten year period the national team won olympic gold and nine hundred fifty six became european champions in one thousand nine hundred sixty and then came second in the same competition four years later legends like goalkeeper levy ashton and strikers victor and nikki to simonyan all grew up having no idea what the outcome of the war would bring them over but that didn't stop them from daring to dream.

even played on them to storm accts they fed us only once a day and still we continued to play football and once the war was over every single yard was full of children playing football and the most famous footballers came from these yards in stark contrast to those who were directly affected by the tribulations of war and there were some who were more fortunate because of the us is a vast territory it meant not all of it was directly in the line of fire and. i was very young when the war began so i have a very fuzzy memory of how it told was back then i lived in but to be a coastal city in what is now the republic of georgia and people will even peacefully ovo there were many refugees there was no actual war there so luckily breena was also quite peaceful. while calm as a steely had the luxury of relative freedom and open space those closer to the

front line had far fewer comforts nearby than you do if there weren't any sports schools or the fantastic jean halls we have today we didn't have any protective gear or even boots at times we played bare food we played with empty cans as food or to cook and all it sort that mum would give us feel it with straw and use that with that kind of spirit it's little wonder these boys managed to achieve what they did. some lucky ones where even torn between vocations. i spent my childhood juggling the desire to become a food bill and with that of being a singer. from food books a scene in. back to food bill again but in the end my call it was food bill and soon it became a goalkeeper if we do not believe. whether or not these great footballers were affected directly by the war collectively they managed to channel any fear or despair into the beautiful game and it's these legends that prove that despite great adversity even rule can rip children of their dreams michael christian group

. meanwhile in tennis world number one novak djokovic has described the clear court of the madrid masters as impossible despite a three set win over daniel jimeno traveller in the first round the serb beating the native six two two six six three but wasn't happy with the surface claiming afterwards he should have come out in football boots joke of it's the reigning champion also joked he had to seek advice from partial or excitement chuck norris on how to play on the newly installed new play the comments come following similar concerns from other players authorities however civically makes it easier for t.v. viewers to follow the flight home but. finally it's been a historic night on the baseball diamond with josh hamilton joining an exclusive club of potters the thirty year old leaving his texas rangers to victory over baltimore by hitting an incredible four to run homers in a single game in the league's one hundred forty three year history only fifteen

peers will manage such a feat and starting things off in the first any by home ring off jake arietta the orioles pitcher falling victim to the texas slugger again in the third with a second effort heading out of the park that he made four zero rangers. julie his third on fourth two run homer late on on the night texas are currently a top team in the end i'll be stuck. with. all your sport for naught. well the british know it's time to. find. the right.

markets why not. find out what's really happening to the global economy in the cons are employed. in the russian capital business. here in moscow we have been following wednesday's victory day celebrations every year a minute's silence is observed in commemoration of those who were killed during the great war that's how it's known in russia twenty five million soviets lost their

lives during the war right now we will mark the. new minute. when you my dear attention go eat eba guy this is moscow rabbited see it's internet all the central t.v. and radio stations of russia that are working smart that each year.

he must. be at them by the light of our great for memory. sighed the light of our love the group of the. city of the light of our dream which. led the names of the fallen. shine in our memory forever. spoken let us recall that he was at this three years easy to meet and once the other day. whatsit a great patriotic war is lamed the twenty six million six hundred thousand lives in it you just threw me away my. sperm you let us remember

spoke only of letters remember them as local goof up the enemy at the front of the way while those who fought in guerilla detachments most of those who suffered in fascist concentration camps spawn new let us remember those who worked without sleep and rest on the home front spoon even let us remember those baby girl each to berlin and prague ico as though it was you who are not with us today and. spoke only let us remember the villages and certainly should that that were reduced to ashes ashore let us remember the hundreds of towns destroyed but were not only fitted to look at the roofs let us remember look at your every street. the every house spoke you every home gosh they don't. sell the best soldier of the great patriotic war. you fought to the bitter end my school near moscow in

a stalingrad go through delivered bread that lead to the located leningrad. and your burned in a tank at the front line. but you buy it when dying is saving millions of lines. you get a lost your kids and kids in the stolen labor camps it's not freedom to the inmates of auschwitz. who can model. and. think if that got you did you not intrude for an boundaries you need sky neither did you seek fame these issues sure just defended your motherland as a she defended your family. spoke set us today remember being free of those who place their lives on the altar of the free. that is barlow too that's . what it all as the years and decades

past as each year. in your generation takes the place of another notice good motion now but is it possible to pass into oblivion with such a heroic deed of the warriors who defended not only our lives each of the very notion of a human being to you that flashes and bush wanted to crush. the p.d.p. but in the day of the great the trees school in your name we bow our heads in bright memory as the years leap i meet you who did not get in return if somebody will send the sons the cittie daughters at some others. not yours dear and fathers more free husbands. their lives but others sisters i've known region arms. relatives. and friends.