the plane has continued into the night there's been no communication with the aircraft since contact was last minute journey jury assails demonstration flight earlier on wednesday r.t. shaun thomas has the latest. it certainly is a mystery at this point what we do know is the plane was on a routine flight taking people up to test the jet out as it were people who could be buying this plane for their own companies and it was supposed to be a thirty minute flight then we do know that the pilot requested to descend from tel ten thousand feet to six thousand feet and then it disappeared from radar at that point they decided to send out search crews but they had to call those crews back because of the nighttime hours and poor weather conditions there are reports of fog in that area at this point in time they're waiting to see when they can go back out to the search for that airplane again but one thing that they're not ruling out is they're not ruling out the possibility of a hijacking they also know that the plane was low on fuel in fact by the time the plane was supposed to land back at the airport in jakarta the fuel was supposed to be spent so there could be a problem with that as well the mountains south of jakarta are volcanic some of

them are very high and surrounding those mountains are hills valleys rocky terrain there are some plantations in the area lots of rivers but even those rivers aren't what you might expect as a river valley they are rocky type areas that are really easy to navigate now the good news is that it is a densely populated island there are people everywhere so if something did happen to this plane there will be someone who has seen it and authorities are hoping that they can get in touch with those people some time when the search resumes in the morning this is actually a brand new airplane it is russia's first sojourn into the commercial aviation industry since the soviet union in fact it was meant to revitalize the commercial aviation industry in russia it is a highly technical and highly advanced piece of equipment in fact it was also equipped with equipment that could detect normalities in the terrain is so at this point in time no abnormalities this is an anomaly. told us they will many in the

aviation industry is saying the incident is more likely due to human error than technical malfunction that's according to operations and safety edited for online magazine flight global david live out. what i think i think the most helpful way of trying to understand what might have happened here is to remember exactly what it's doing in indonesia it's on indonesia on a demonstration tour of the world showing off to potential customers just what a good airplane this is and just how clever it is and how far you can take it sometimes the pilots or the crews deliberately take the aircraft right to their limits and they do that sometimes when the aircraft is quite close to the ground that's what a demonstration flight is often like sometimes they push the limits just too far and that might happen we're talking about highly professional test pilots on board this aircraft people like that just less an airplane run out of fuel so i think you

can rule that one out hijack like like who why what's the motivation of being on that's not a commercial flight this one is a demo flight no i think you can rule that one out mountainous terrain well yes if there are mountains there a pilot isn't going to run into them if he can see them if the mountains are in cloud the pilot still knows they're there and this aircraft has to rain warning system on it using the high terrain is an excuse for an accident in an aircraft as well equipped as that i think is a bit farfetched but just because the demonstration flights have come to grief so often in the past if i were to put my money on this the cause of this one that's where i'd put it does turn out to be the fact that the crews simply were pushing their luck too far and then. we will regain face. of course will keep you

updated on the developments in indonesia where the search continues. millions of russians to be marking victory day to commemorate russia's triumph and what it calls the great patriotic war earlier on we observed a minute's silence dedicated to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom the finale of the celebrations was a magnificent display of fireworks across the capital and our correspondent has more. this enormous fireworks display and also a minute's silence held earlier both of those are central to them the commemoration of victory in the great patriotic war over nazi germany and it's not just here in moscow all over russia at a turn all flame sites that have been burning for every day and every nights and war memorials all across russia and the former soviet union people have been marking this event those memorials bear the words urging people never to forget the

great sacrifice that the soviet union went through to defeat nazi germany it's estimated about twenty six point six million people gave lives in that conflict when nazi germany invaded in june one nine hundred forty one they nearly destroyed the soviet union but over the next four years on the front ranging from the black sea to the baltic from the volga all the way to berlin the red army turned the tide and pushed them all the way back until an armistice was eventually signed and it's that the marking of that achievement and both sacrifices that this is all about early on in the day here a red square there was a large military parade fourteen thousand troops marched through accompanied by more than tanks aircraft flying flags and nuclear missiles which were paraded through the capital that parade watched by president vladimir putin and prime

minister dmitri medvedev those two having swapped jobs also veterans came out as well obviously all of this is designed to try and mimic what was what was done in one nine hundred forty five in the victory parade then the veterans were there then and there was a dwindling number of them now both that remember those dark days firsthand and there was also the laying of the wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier against the kremlin walls there's an awful lot of young people joy. joining in the celebrations and you'll also see a lawful lot of these around russia in the days around victory day these redden of these orange and black ribbons have become synonymous with the celebrations they're hung on bags are flown from cars and and people wear them on their clothes and that's part of the central italy of celebrating this event it's also been victory day in europe the day yesterday the same reason the defeat of nazi germany but it

must be said that in europe the v.-day doesn't really hold the weight anymore but victory day does in russia perhaps a mark of the immense sacrifices made by russia in recent polls by of the younger generation russia it's been found that the memories of land in the revolution are starting to slip from from their memory and the memories of stalin are starting to slip a bit as well but this day sticks the memory of victory day and that almighty victory is remembered by all perhaps a final fitting gesture is the fact that a lot of young people in moscow carry flowers on this day and they give those flowers to the older generations those that remember the war to remember those dark days firsthand and they give them saying thank you thank you for all that you've done to save our country and to win those victory. there in red square here in moscow well besides these soviet troops thousands of british

soldiers also sacrificed their lives during the war they went to see braving subzero temperatures in the arctic to deliver arms and food to the red army all in all for the half million tons of supplies were sent to the eastern front but as i've abandon reports the epic effort has remained largely unrecognized until now the worst journey in the world was how winston churchill described it ten days through hell the arctic convoys were a vital lifeline of supply. to the soviet union with britain's eastern ally in the grip of a nazi onslaught that just nineteen john c. is was a gunner on board one ship braving fierce seas bitter cold and a treacherous route infested by german u. boats never experienced in the can you just imagine. wives come in a. block of flats just past the wife say just picked us up

picked us up just market or just. perrie mind we were fourteen thousand pretty heavy clark a toy and you know we've been lifted out because you could hear the screws turn in at the wall. below and in the water this is the very ship john says served on his job was to man the n.t.a. craft guns against the heavy enemy fire from above but the onslaught came from the sea to the huge icy waves with the warmth even a ship this size just over eight hundred ships were dispatched in total in the convoys but one in eight never made it back britain lost three thousand men in what was known as the most hostile theater of world war two the waters so cold that falling in meant almost certain death yet those behind the mission never on and the men it sent john received medals for other campaign see fourteen but he's still missing the one that matters most but our phil discussed it while being trained in

a minute only a few of us left now. a more well interrelated. how come not frightened now and i mean come on. but i know. we did i didn't say i got a lengthy burma pacific defense medal i've got the order came pis other campaigns are been in the eye of the mon if i had. one of an english. medal for their ration cards but that could soon change prime minister david cameron's finally ordered the medals review after years of campaigning from veterans they haven't been honored so far because of bureaucratic red tape limiting war heroes to one medal per campaign medal rules also mean a stint on the convoys wasn't long enough to meet the six month minimum and impossible targets given the extreme conditions of the arctic is this gusting and

to my mind the fact that it's been it's taking so long it's really heartbreaking because over the years we've been campaigning for this medal many many of these veterans have and have now passed away and the absolute tragedy if this would be if we did get to a situation where the medal really removes the barriers and the attic where veterans are allowed their medal and there are none of them alive to receive any of the sixty six and a half thousand men who sailed on the arctic convoys just two hundred remain like john they've just been offered another medal by russian government for ever in debt to this service on top of the two it's already awarded john will find out in september if he is to finally receive what he really wants but for other aging war heroes like him it could be too little too late either bennett r.t. london.

the jailed ukrainian opposition leader unit a machine code has been moved from prison to a hospital for treatment the former prime minister had been on hunger strike for nineteen days claiming abuse in an earlier attempt to move or authorities are hoping this will defuse a growing diplomatic crisis threatening to overshadow the hero twenty twelve football championship bodies alexia cesky has more from. now we have a deficiency confirm that ukraine's former prime minister yulia timoshenko has been delivered to a hospital in her reported spinal hemorrhage will be treated it is interesting that it will be treated slowly by a german doctor and now has insisted that no ukrainian doctor has access to her treatment it's unclear whether she is just mistrustful or she is afraid of her life something her daughter has been reporting now with lots of control over c. preceding this transportation of the hospital now for several weeks she had been claiming that she will not be treated in ukraine and asked permission to be relocated abroad for her spinal damage to be treated there but the authorities have

been adamant that she would not leave the soil now before that there was an attempt to transfer you to machines or to one of the hospitals. on april the twenty fifth in fact she back then claimed that prison guards physically abused her during the transportation and recently photos of her bruises were made public on the internet causing a lot of fuss here in ukraine and internationally and now there has been a very harsh reaction following the a legit use of physical abuse by the prison guards domestically with thousands of supporters of you protesting in the prison building and in near the court building and also very harsh reactions coming internationally now several leaders of european states said that they would boy called the you were twenty two well football championship in ukraine and poland because of the way had allegedly been treated by prison guards in the list of the officials included the german chancellor angela merkel the government of the netherlands the president of the

czech republic and the german president as well as several other top officials in europe now ukraine even had to cancel the european states summit in the crimea in this city or because of so many officials from europe deciding to boy called this summit and certainly the fact that she will be treated in a hospital. by a german doctor is definitely a move forward we are certainly waiting for any more developments in this rather turbulent on a roller coaster story. there now to some other news making headlines around the world in a world update this greece's far left leader alexis to sit to see person has failed to form a coalition in the greek parliament he rejects the austerity proposals and was unable to reach a deal with the parties is follow sunday's parliamentary elections during which is radical party surprisingly won nearly seventeen percent of the vote and no one secured an overall majority if no deal can be agreed greece will be forced to hold a new election next month. sudan has resumed its aerial bombardment according to

a military official in the south a spokesman said sudanese warplanes have attacked three southern states over the past two days it's unknown how many bombs were dropped or how many people were killed in the attacks the u.n. security council approved a resolution last month threatening sanctions against both countries if they did not stop violence on the border and return to negotiations. hundreds of opposition activists have gathered in central moscow on the evening of victory day they are protesting against the arrests of anti-government activists election of all me and. auntie's jacob greaves has the details this action behind me has been going on all day but it was in the last couple of hours where the numbers that really swirled now about a thousand people have congregated it's a very public events all guys on the swiss in fact will start out by late saying about me poland opposition activists early tuesday morning when a similar demonstration was staged and the ethos of this is continued on to

wednesday is all about the voiding political chanting political sentiment that's because it's not actually a sanction demonstration therefore they risk the rest by doing so. g.'s they even though were arrests of attention to be made official police reports but that's about two hundred people but protesters. stressed it was more among those being detained crucially were only person originally started for organizing this he will remain in detention for fifteen days as will. head of the left front of proving quite problems again because of organizing such demonstrations this has angered some of those in attendance and really inspired them to come out this evening know how seeing protesters in action earlier on today there will be the white ribbon moving that we're seeing here at the moment for free and fair elections is their slogan the ranks of the communist party really latched on to their fishley sanctioned demonstration we can hold their own independent one this is

a question that's been asked of the movement of the moment do they have the numbers to continue in force you know there's a few opposition activists who claim to throw the bounty who don't so but they have their core followers as well but they pass a lot of the major milestones that lead up in protest of the presidential elections to the inauguration and eat here on victory day it must be some where in us now among opposition leaders about how to drum up more support on the streets in the future. when this return to one of our top stories here on that of course is victory day russia is celebrating the sixty seventh anniversary of victory over nazi germany in the second world war in the traditional annual parade rolled across red square earlier on wednesday and here are some of the highlights.

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scenes from moscow red square and you can watch the full version of that military parade on red square on you tube channel. well if you live here moscow very shortly historian political analyst pippa hughes recently been to syria says the very same powers that backed the un initiative also fueling the conflict that is. all special interview next here on r.t. . if. you.

today we're sitting down with pierre 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 some so-called arab spring and he's also written extensively on these countries the most recent one being syria a thanks very much for joining us today thank you and first question we'd like to deal with we've been to syria the most latest country you visited a couple of times what was your goal in going to that country. 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 was my goal was to get reliable information 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 what i discovered to it 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 the syrian opposition is very much divided they do not share the same goals and they use different methods to reach their goals saying you've talked to the opposition various groups in the opposition can you tell us about what you discussed with them and how you would assess them. first there is no such thing as a single opposition in fact there are many opposition groups and some of them are in conflict with each other there are two hot that's of discontent in the city of hama where the muslim brotherhood led an uprising in the one nine hundred eighty s. the demonstrations that took place there were peaceful in july the syrian army surrounded the city but stopped short of occupying us early in august the army moved into the city under stablish control over demonstrations are continuing the army and the police are present there to prevent the protesters from accessing

major squares and streets protesters do throw stones at the police from time to time but these rallies never turn violent so the army does. not have to respond although the media often say that the police opened fire on protesters and it's not true at least i have never seen any use of weapons their homes and other historical center of discontent has become the fighting ground for many armed rebel groups i was there with the residents of homs these were ordinary people who took up any weapon they could find and defended their neighborhoods from the army however along with this civil uprising or we witnessed a much more dangerous one i'm talking about the islamist movement which is fighting in homs also there are insurgents who call themselves the free syrian army it has been active on the border with turkey and lebanon and 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 after the armed opposition groups inside syria there are also several salafi groups

who are responsible for terrorist acts and at times commit horrendous atrocities 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 but there are islamic groups in syria that are trying to use this situation and turn syria into an islamic republic 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 islamic groups spread throughout the sahara and got into sub-saharan african countries there is something unhealthy about these groups liking alongside the revolutionaries it's impossible to identify or contact them they are truly secretive groups 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 real revolution are they right are they watch how would you assess the government's stand. and also occurred first of all as for the government's rhetoric i don't believe. the syrian government is blind 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 us plotting against syria the regime is far from collapsing it's nowhere near a downfall bashar assad has a lot of sunny days ahead of him and 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 i want to see what happens on the ground i take the facts and draw conclusions bashar al assad has agreed on the piece by presenting by coffee at nine but bashar al assad has made a lot of promises in the past and a lot of them who did not do you think is going to make good on his promise this time for a cease fire and this this place plan. kofi annan plan wasn't very well timed 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 defeating the free syrian army at the moment the government's biggest problem is cross border raids from refugee camps in turkey and lebanon so what happens is that 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 helped the free syrian army conduct their training qatar and france were directly involved in helping them get new arms advanced and heavy weaponry and help them reorganize and review their strategy you cannot demand this from the government it is certainly a dictatorship but it's a legitimate government according to international law and the westphalian system and it's suppressing an armed revolt to reestablish control over its territory i understand that bashar assad said yes we shall comply with the plan and will stop the violence because he wanted to buy some time yet but in reality they continue their offensive against the free syrian army so how do you see the syrian conflict

ending at all unless of course there is an intervention from outside i expect that the baathist government will be able to control the situation with military force after that i think it will. progressive reforms to develop democracy this may even be a formal democracy at the initial stage i believe to a large degree this democracy will be formal yet civil society is awakening and it's making its position known and in the future the government will have to make a turn towards a real democracy here pichot and thanks very much for your time. it seems.

good to have you with us the top stories now a brand new russian passenger plane. one hundred goes missing during a sales demonstration flight in indonesia with fifty people on board after going off. on wednesday. a spectacular display of fireworks is enjoyed in moscow on victory day while he rushes defeat of nazi germany in the great patriotic war. included a grand parade in red square the red epic half and sixty seven years ago. and ukraine's former prime minister yulia timoshenko was moved to hospital from a prison in a bid to address concerns over the treatment. and russia celebrates the today and remembers those who gave their lives fighting against the nazis and what was.