the search for a missing russian plane is 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. 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 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 abnormalities in the terrain is so at this point in time no abnormalities this is an anomaly. sure thomas there were 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 editor for online magazine flight global david lim 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 you 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. they will regain face. of course we'll keep you

updated on the developments in indonesia where the search continues throughout the night. millions of russians have been marking victory day to commemorate russia's triumph in 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 our correspondent tom bowman 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 the turn all flame sites that have been burning for every day and every night and war memorials all across russia in 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 their 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 in 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 swaps 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 is a dwindling number of them now both that remember those dark days firsthand and there was also the laying of a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier against the kremlin walls there's an awful lot of young people joining in the celebrations and you 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 carson and people wear them on their clothes and that's part of the central a t. of celebrating this event it's also been victory day in europe v.-day yesterday the

same reason the defeat of nazi germany but it must be said that in europe v eight 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 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 or 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 but remember those dark days first hand and they give them saying thank you thank you for all that you've done to save our country and to win a stunning victory. there in red square where besides the 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 a half million tons of supplies were sent to the eastern front but other credit reports the epic effort has remained largely unrecognized until now. the worst journey in the world was how winston churchill described it the ten days through hell the arctic convoys were a vital lifeline of supplies 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 anything like can you just imagine. wives come in a. block of flats just past the wife say just picked us up

picked us up just. just. bury mind we were fourteen thousand per year. 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 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 wharf 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 fall in meant almost certain death yet those behind the mission never on and the men it sent john received medals for other campaigns he fought in but he's still missing

the one that matters most but our field discussed my dad while being trained in a minute only a few of us left now. more well interrelated. how come not frightened now and i mean come on. but i know. i didn't say i got i lent it pacific defense mega i've got the order came pis other campaigns are been in the eye of the mary five zero. one zero and the english. medal for the russian congress 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 on it 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 this is this gusting

and to my mind it is the fact that it's it's taken 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 remains the barriers and the article with veterans are allowed their medal and there are none of them alive to receive it 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 to john all 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.

greece's far left leaders failed to form a coalition in the greek parliament leaving the conservatism position to try and strike a deal but if that fails the country will be forced to hold a further election next month we'll talk more on the political and economic crisis in greece annoyed john boy. associate professor of sociology at the new york city college of technology well no one has an overall majority in time's running out to form a coalition with austerity and the bailout of course forming the main sticking points what are the chances of an agreement being reached or could this all go to another election well i think another election is likely resolved you know the political situation in greece is in flux so nobody can make and you save predictions but they will now be up to the leader of the socialist party which was the third party in parliament to make and

therefore to all form a government that would enjoy support of a majority in the parliament and if that doesn't warrant. the president will call all of the political leaders to all of them to discuss whether they can find a way to form a government doesn't work then there will probably be an election in june well let's talk about the latest round of voting where the neo fascist party golden dawn is is now set to become the latest addition to the greek parliament winning what around six percent of the vote extreme nationalism seems to be gaining ground doesn't it not just in greece is this an indication of politics changing in europe as a whole. well i think this is a disturbing development that in times of crisis oftentimes the extreme right tries to manipulate and sonner the people. by scapegoating immigrants or minorities so this is certainly disturbing i think part of the vote was

a protest vote of people who were sick of the main parties and hopefully as the limelight you know focuses on the golden dawn party it will become a shadow we and people will really see what they stand for and hopefully the support for them will go down. following the elections angela merkel has urged greece to stick to the austerity measures but if greece were to abandon the pain out and quit the year is and look what would be the future consequences for the country. abandoning the bailout i mean does not necessarily mean that greece to quit the euro zone this is the thread that is being used by the prosperity party sent by the europeans but the left party which is very dim or from and is betting on the fact

that. the domino effect would be so large that for the rest of europe if greece were to be exacted that ultimately the europeans would have to bring negotiate a solution that is more viable and more socially for greek citizens what about the impact for greece itself it did if it did reject the pain out surely of just simply go bankrupt wouldn't it and then some are saying this of course would be catastrophe and it would have to exit the euro zone. yeah i mean this is debatable nobody knows what would really really happen. what they left parties or the conservatives and the socialists i would agree with the analysis you just mentioned b. other side basically. supports a moratorium of payments on the debt and they argue that the catastrophe has already arrived in greece with unemployment over twenty percent

and you know really a desperation growing and. recipe has not worked for greece so the alternative is to try something different or spirit is not the solution is part of the of the problem all right cause there's plenty of talk is thank you very much and if your thoughts associate professor of sociology at the new york city college of technology thank you. joe ukrainian opposition leader yulia tymoshenko has been moved from prison to a hospital for treatment the former prime minister begun and had been on hunger strike for nineteen days claiming abuse in an earlier attempt to move her authority is a hoping this would refuse a growing diplomatic crisis threatening to overshadow the euro two thousand and twelve football championship. he has more now from kiev. 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 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 this 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 for 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 korean 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 to 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 views of physical abuse by the prison guards domestically with thousands of

supporters of you to protesting in the prison building and in the 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 height of the list of the coaching 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 the city of 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 rollercoaster story. hundreds of opposition activists have gathered in central

moscow in the evening or victory day they are protesting against the arrests of anti-government activists annex in the valley and setting off donkeys jacob greaves has the details. this action behind me has been going on all day but it wasn't till the last couple of hours where the numbers really swirled now about a thousand people have congregated it's a very public event organized on the swiss in fact they'll start out by let's say no bounty prone to 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 and political sentiment that's because it's not actually has sanctioned demonstration therefore they risk arrest by doing so no less late tuesday evening there 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 alexina valley person originally started for organizing this he will remain in detention for

fifteen days as will surrogate hotels of 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 they join the ranks of the communist party really bloodstone 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 have to roll the bound me down soft and they have their cool followers as well but they pass a lot of them may. major milestones that lead up in protest of the presidential elections to the inauguration anted here on victory day it must be some wearing us now among opposition leaders about how to drum up more support on the streets in

the future. i'll be back with a recap of the headlines in about ten minutes from now in the meantime here on r.t. historian and political analysts pete approaching news recently been to syria says the very same powers that back the u.n. initiative are also fueling the conflict that interview next.

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 would like to know with we've been to syria the most latest a country you visited a couple of times what was your goal and 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 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 this eerie and

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 works 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 beds 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 and establish control over it 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 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 we witnessed a much more dangerous one i'm talking about the islamist movement which is fighting in homs also there are insurgents who called themselves the free syrian army it has been active on the border with turkey and lebanon that 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 the 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 it to sub-saharan african countries there is something unhealthy about these groups acting 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 real revolution right are they watch how would you assess the government's hand. and also could first of all as for the government 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 u.s. 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 many people asked 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. 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 there he did not do you think is going to make good on his promise this time for a cease fire on this this place where. 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. those who helped 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 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 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 boss us government will be able to control the situation with military force after that i think it will conduct aggressive reforms to develop democracy this might 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. if only to see. if. you. see the.

exactly this is 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 off the going off radar earlier on wednesday. a spectacular display of fireworks and joy to moscow on victory day walking russia's defeat of nazi germany in the great patriotic war. of the grand parade in red square to all of the red. sixty seven years ago. and ukraine's former prime minister yulia timoshenko has moved to hospital from the prison and a bit to address concerns over her treatment. well that's it for me in the news team for the moment the news continues with. about half an hour from now in the meantime some say let me put it may have to change because russia's.