[GEO] Rubezhnoe, LPR 2022
[Anna] The long-suffering town of Rubezhnoe
[Anna] We've come here regularly since we learned it was OK
to go to the outskirts
[Anna] They're bringing all the vehicles hit by the Ukrainian army
during evacuation here, a lot of civilians were killed
DONBASS: THE FLIPSIDE OF WAR
[VO] Along with others,
Anna Soroka, Chair of the Board of the 'Memorial:
We Shall Not Forget, We Shall Not Forgive' NGO
makes daily trips to the Lugansk People's Republic’s destroyed towns and villages,
where people are being killed every day.
[VO] And someone has to find them,
identify them, and bury them.
[Anna Soroka, Adviser to LPR Head Leonid Pasechnik Director, NGO 'Memorial: We Shall Not Forget, We Shall Not Forgive!']
[Anna] We're trying to help a family where a couple died, leaving 3 children
[Anna] We need a death certificate to get custody
[Anna] Their parents died when there were street battles here
[Anna] They were given an impromptu burial,
like most Rubezhnoe residents that died
[Anna] Today, we want to recover their remains and submit them
for forensic examination
[Yulia Kozhevnikova, Deputy Commander, Field Team, NGO 'Memorial: We Shall Not Forget, We Shall Not Forgive!', LPR]
[Yulia] Today, this granny...
[Yulia] They contacted us about obtaining a death certificate,
so the grandma could officially take custody of the 3 kids
[Yulia] It's going to be OK
[Anna] This is my war buddy
[Anna] We've known each other 9 years
[Anna] We've been helping the victims of this terrible war
[Anna] Yulia's been at the forefront of this armed conflict
since the very beginning, in 2014
[Anna] She's joined the militia, along with her husband and daughter
[Anna] Amazing that she still has patience and nerves for this, she's just a jewel
[Anna] The Ukrainian Army mercilessly shelled Rubezhnoe while retreating
[Anna] In late March, we had to dig trenches for the civilian victims
because, unfortunately, the circumstances were just hellish
[Anna] Bodies were all over the streets
and piled up in the hospital, morgue, and cellars
[Anna] This pole marks the first trench
[Anna] This cross marks the second,
and here's part of the third
[Anna] And all these here,
we exhumed over two months in the town of Rubezhnoe
[Anna] People were buried randomly near public institutions...
schools where they'd hidden from shells
[Anna] Children were buried in these first two graves:
[Anna] Kristina and Veniamin Akolzin
[Anna] See how many crosses there are?
[Anna] You can't even see the end
[Anna] Rubezhnoe's southern areas were so badly damaged
that special equipment was needed to remove the rubble
[Anna] There are still a lot of remains there
[Anna] We've heard a Ukrainian mortar shell landed there,
wounding a mum and killing her 2 young children
[Yulia] A lot of people were buried under the rubble
[Yulia] Unfortunately, we don't have enough rescuers or sappers,
but we're doing our best to recover the bodies
[Andrey Kuznetsov, Volunteer, Rubezhnoe, LPR]
[Andrey] I met Anna in May, when fighting was still going on here
[Andrey] She asked us to get some guys to start picking up bodies around town
[Andrey] During this time,
our guys have recovered, moved, and buried about 1,100 people
UKRAINIAN MILITARY FOOTAGE
[Yulia] Rubezhnoe's not far from Kremennaya, where fighting is still taking place
[Yulia] We can hear the gunfire now
[Yulia] Shells land here every day
[GEO] Rubezhnoe, LPR 2022
[Anna] We're in Rubezhnoe School No. 2's bomb shelter, along with local civilians
who, under all conventions, must be protected by all means possible
[Anna] We have to stay here,
as they're hitting the area around the school with heavy 122mm shells
[Anna] This isn't just a human catastrophe
[Anna] People have been living in shattered buildings
with no electricity, windows, food, or medical care
[Anna] The Ukrainian Army has blocked everything
and intensified the attacks it's conducted over the past 8 years
[Anna] They know no limits
[Anna] We were recovering bodies
[Anna] A local woman was crushed by the wall, with her legs broken
[Anna] Locals tried in vain to save her, she died of blood loss
[Anna] Now, we'll try to reach areas where people are sheltering
to help the wounded
[Anna] The troops will now try to evacuate wounded civilians from Rubezhnoe
[Yulia] People don't live in these buildings, as there's no light, gas, or water
[Yulia] This is where the frontline was
[Yulia] The Ukrainian Nazis were hiding
in the basement of the 'Krasitel' dye factory
[Yulia] They had civilian hostages
[Yulia] On March 19, when we heard
that part of the city had been liberated by our defenders,
our team came to the city on a humanitarian mission
and also helped in evacuating people
[Anna Soroka, Adviser to LPR Head Leonid Pasechnik Director, NGO 'Memorial: We Shall Not Forget, We Shall Not Forgive!']
[Anna] We are now focusing more on severely damaged smaller villages
where mostly people of advanced age remain
[Anna] They need care, attention, and love,
so we bring them medicine
and help them solve everyday problems, like paperwork issues
[Anna] This is our life
[VO] Toshkovka.
[VO] Once a flourishing, prosperous village.
[VO] This is what's left of it now.
[Pyotr Zhukov, Head, Toshkovka-1, LPR]
[Pyotr] Everything's destroyed, all the buildings are wrecked
[Pyotr] Shops and hospitals have no gas
[Pyotr] Everyone has problems with documents, they need passports
[Pyotr] There's a fantastic mine in our village with very good coal
[Pyotr] We have 120 people here so far
[Pyotr] We need electricity. People want to return
[VO] Those who stayed believe that Russia would not abandon them.
[VO] They ask for one thing only:
hope that their hometown will survive.
[Anzhela Bakitko, Resident, Toshkovka-1, LPR]
[Anzhela] We must fetch water and use makeshift stoves, but we won't leave!
[Anzhela] We'll keep waiting in hope
[Anzhela] We want at least two streets and our mine to be restored
[VO] Staff of the 'Memorial: We Shall Not Forget, We Shall Not Forgive' NGO
bring water, clothes, and food.
[VO] There is nothing left here.
[Anzhela] We left, but my parents stayed
[Anzhela] And my sister stayed
[Anzhela] She lived in that building
[Anzhela] When she ran out of entrance 2,
a shell hit near this shop, and a fragment killed her
[Anzhela] But my parents are still here
[Anzhela] They're probably there, under that rubble
[Anzhela] That was the kitchen and living room
[Anzhela] Building 30, entrance 2
[Anzhela] This is what remains of the entryway
[Anzhela] Come on, I'll show you my parents' flat
[Anzhela] This is all that's left
[Anzhela] This is as far as we can get
[Anzhela] Yes, I once lived here
[Anna] When LPR's militia and Russian troops got nearer,
the Ukrainians became beasts, but beasts don't kill for no reason
[Anna] They're just monsters
[Anna] They shelled residential buildings with artillery and tanks
[Anna] A shell landed here, you can see where it came from the shrapnel
[Anna] It was at least a 155mm shell
[Anna] We can see it hit here, from the side
[Anna] A direct hit here and there
[Anna] You can see the monsters deliberately took aim
at a populated area, a residential area where people lived
[Anzhela] They just destroyed everything
[Anna] When we come with humanitarian aid or other things,
they say, 'We don't need more food, we'll survive somehow
[Anna] Restore our mine and build us a monument
to replace the one to WW2 soldiers that was badly damaged in fighting'
[Anna] The settlement's head, Pyotr, said,
'I want this monument to honour not only the Great Patriotic War
but also the defenders who liberated our settlement in 2022
[Anna] It should reflect not just WW2 soldiers, but both'
[VO] Now, with the help of many people,
the monument has almost been restored.
[Anna] So, on one side of the monument,
there's a poncho referring to 1941-1945,
and, on the other, a modern-day tactical vest and Kalashnikov
[Anna] And, in essence, the faces of the Great Patriotic War soldiers
and of the soldiers now liberating our land from Ukrainian Nazism
are identical:
the same eyes, expressions, and stiff upper lip that reflects
a 'never-surrender' attitude
[VO] For eight years,
Ukraine tried to subdue these people to the will of the new neo-Nazi regime,
but they held out.
[VO] They had faith and waited for Russia.
[Anna] Despite living through really hard times,
people have maintained their faith, memory, and sense of justice
[Anna] They did everything to make the Ukrainian Army feel unwelcome here
[VO] A school’s operating under shelling in Nizhnyaya Toshkovka.
[Yulia] What happened to the school and preschool building?
[Alla Toskanova, Acting Headmaster, Nizhnyaya Toshkovka, LPR] The Ukrainian Armed Forces were stationed on the school premises
[Alla] They lived there 2 months,
and on May 2, they poured fuel oil all over the school,
fired a signal flare, and the school burned down
[Alla] The building is very old, we need help
[Alla] All help is welcome, we won't refuse any
[Yulia] Starting September 1, you plan to teach a total of 30 children, right?
[Alla] Yes, we'll have 9 grades,
and one mixed-age preschool group
[Alla] The plan is to have the school cover the children of 3 settlements:
Toshkovka, Toshkovka-1, and Nizhnee
[Yulia] And if your school doesn't open?
[Alla] Then we'll have to drive the kids to Zolotoe
[Yulia] That's far, eh? [Alla] Yes, far
[Vladimir] 'Memorial' receives a lot of requests
[Vladimir] We find people in captivity and those who were killed
[Vladimir] We also find remains
[Vladimir Glushchenko, Volunteer, Field Team Member, NGO 'Memorial: We Shall Not Forget, We Shall Not Forgive!', LPR]
[Vladimir] Since 2014...
[Vladimir] I've been in reconnaissance
[Vladimir] I took part in seizing the SBU building
[Vladimir] I was wounded
[Vladimir] A bullet like this pierced my arm, between the bones
[Vladimir] Well, I'm fine, alive and kicking
[Vladimir] They missed
[Vladimir] I was wounded but not killed
[Yulia] Then he liberated the airport in Lugansk
[Yulia] He's in our team now: an interagency task force
that recovers remains in areas where mines are everywhere
[Vladimir] Many unidentified soldiers, Ukrainians and ours,
lie in forested areas, in woods, but everything is mined
[Vladimir] We have 4 sappers assigned to us, but it's not enough
[Vladimir] Watch it! Don't stray off unless you have to
[Vladimir] The whole area is mined
[Vladimir] Right and left, there are booby traps and 'petal' mines
[Vladimir] So we stay on the asphalt
[Vladimir] But watch your step, there may be 'petal' mines
[Vladimir] It's a huge area
[Vladimir] Being ex-military, I know about mines
[Vladimir] Sometimes, I have to demine myself
[Vladimir] There are also soldiers: burnt, and also ones who are buried
[Vladimir] We walked around, went some 50 metres in,
found 3 or 4 trenches and retrieved bodies
[Vladimir] Tactical vests have hand grenades and VOGs (High-Explosive Grenade With Self-Desruct Mechanism)
[Vladimir] They corrode or get burnt
[Vladimir] Grenades and VOGs corrode
[Vladimir] We take them out carefully, put them aside, and work on
[Vladimir] We're in an orchard in the village of Orekhovo
[Vladimir] Locals said there were Ukrainian positions here. Remains were found
[Vladimir] But it's mined, so sappers are working
[Vladimir] We'll check everything, recover remains, if there are any,
and take them to the morgue
[Vladimir] Here are the first spoils
[Vladimir] The sappers found a spent foreign-made RPG
[Vladimir] We also found...
drug paraphernalia
[Vladimir] Addicts were probably stationed here
[Vladimir] An ammunition dump was here
[Vladimir] It got hit by a shell of unknown type
[Vladimir] Ammunition was scattered all over the site
[Vladimir] It's dangerous when the firing pin's been triggered,
but the shell hasn't detonated. It could go off any time
[Vladimir] This stuff is scattered in almost every village. It's everywhere!
[Vladimir] A week ago, kids in Georgievka, Lutuginsky District, Lugansk Region
found an RPG and took it to a police station
[Vladimir] A lot of ammo, mines, and shells are everywhere
[Vladimir] Every green zone, roadside, and field is mined
[Vladimir] We're off to the village of Nizhnee
[Vladimir] We recovered 7 dead civilians
[Vladimir] We and the sappers swept the recreation area...
and the kids' summer camp, where Ukrainians had been
[Vladimir] The roads were mined right and left
[Vladimir] It was their 6th line of defence
[Vladimir] We've only demined asphalted areas
[Vladimir] We'll do the rest later
[Vladimir] On the right is the village of Donetsky,
which was shelled from Ukrainian positions for 8 years
[Vladimir] Kirovsk was also shelled. They struck as far as they could reach
[Vladimir] This place is mined as well
[Vladimir] We haven't got there yet
[Vladimir] We've just passed the Ukrainians' 4th line of defence
[Vladimir] The dugouts are hidden. They're also by the roadside
[Vladimir] In almost all cultivated areas, they had hidden dugouts,
all concealed and mined
[Yulia] Vladimir was in the military, he knows about all types of mines
[Yulia] So, we feel safe when he's around
[Anna] He's both a sapper and a psychologist for women
who sometimes need to be calmed down
[Anna] He ensures our safety and shouts loudly when a shell's incoming:
'Get down, quick!' or 'Run, now!' and so on
[Anna] Or 'We're not going there!' He's patient with us
[Anna] He's our driver and takes care of our transport
[VO] This is what the group does every day:
[VO] Goes to life-threatening and dangerous places;
[VO] Searches for the dead,
and if possible, exchanges dead bodies with Ukraine.
[VO] They work as volunteers without stable financing.
[VO] Often, without days off
and entitled vacations.
[Anna] Only someone who thinks of it, not as their 9-to-6 job,
but as a calling, can work there
[Anna] This is emotion, tears, and suffering:
losses no one can ever make up for
[Anna] No sum of money can compensate a mother's heart, a loving wife,
or kids who've lost parents and loved ones
[Anna] Human life is priceless
[Anna] Death doesn't end our lives
as long as we're remembered, respected, and appreciated
‘VOSTOK’ BATTALION THE MEDVEDEVITES
[Yulia] Since 2014, we've been providing humanitarian aid
to the citizens of the LPR
[Yulia] Many come to us about different matters
[Yulia] People know that 'We Shall Not Forget, We Shall Not Forgive!'
won't refuse to help them
[VO] They consider other’s troubles, including children’s, their own.
[VO] Yulia and Vladimir adopted Sonechka,
and she is now happy in their close-nit family.
[VO] They endured much during the long years of war,
but they're alive, helping those in dire straits.
[VO] And that's what matters most.
[Woman] Why did God do this to me?
[Yulia] This is suffering and pain. Naturally, our task...
is to help these people
[Yulia] Right? [Vladimir] Exactly!
[VO] Every Donbass resident has a story of suffering.
[Man] Not far from here, they shot a bus full of people
[Man] My wife, Nadezhda, is buried here
[Man] Buildings were directly hit by shelling
[Man] A lady's leg got blown off. I cried for help, ran back...
barely made it
[Yulia] There are many stories of snipers killing civilians
who were trying to get out of the town
[Lilia, Resident, Rubezhnoe, LPR]
[Lilia] On March 8, they began shelling our city
[Lilia] No gas, no power, no water! It was March - cold and snowy
[Lilia] My husband and I decided to go to his mother's,
near the station on the other side of town
[Lilia] They had power and gas
[Lilia] We made food to take back for Mum and Dad
[Lilia] We knew they wouldn't survive without assistance
[Lilia] We went there, cooked food, and tried to return
[Lilia] We couldn't! The Russian Army had entered the city,
and it was divided into zones
[Lilia] We were on the Ukrainian side, my parents on the Russian side
[Lilia] Passing the frontline was impossible
[Lilia] I tried 3 times, under shelling, but I was forced to crawl back
[Lilia] 10 days later, an evacuation convoy started out for the Russian side
[Lilia] That's how I got...
here. It was cold: -15°C
[Lilia] I saw smashed windows, the door broken, glass everywhere
[Lilia] Dad told me, 'Mum hasn't been up for 2 days'
[Lilia] Dad survived. He said, 'I drank my own urine'
[Lilia] Mum didn't eat or drink. She died that evening
[VO] Lilia's mother grew up during the Great Patriotic War.
[VO] When she was 5,
she was taken to a concentration camp.
[Lilia] 'Alytus'...
concentration camp...
[Lilia] They were there with my mum
[Lilia] There were also kids. Their blood was taken for the wounded
[Lilia] Dad was a scout - he reached Berlin
[VO] German tanks are again crawling over Russian territory.
[VO] And European weapons are wiping out Russian people—
deliberately and systematically.
[GEO] Donetsk, DPR, 2022
[Sergey Belov, Anna Soroka's Assistant Member, NGO 'Memorial: We Shall Not Forget, We Shall Not Forgive!']
[Sergey] On Ukraine-occupied land, nationalist battalions 'Aidar', 'Tornado' and others
slaughtered entire families
[VO] Sergey Belov is a member of the LPR Public Chamber and a teacher.
[VO] He's also employed by the 'Memorial: We Shall Not Forget, We Shall Not Forgive'! NGO
[Boy] Daddy! [Sergey] My sunshine!
[Boy] Hey! [Sergey] Hello!
[Sergey] Did you miss me? [Boy] Yes
[Sergey] My little boy!
[VO] He adopted an orphan who lost his parents.
[Sergey] Everyone understands that a human life is finite
[Sergey] War won't end until the last soldier is exhumed
[Sergey] Until the victims are exhumed,
it'll be impossible to realise the tragedy of the war
[Sergey] So, it must be done. It's not some sacred duty or anything
[Sergey] People should leave their trace in history
[Sergey] That's why our group does this. Despite the danger,
we continue our work to give families a place
where they can honour the memory of their loved ones,
to give people who are gone continuation in this world
[Vladimir] In our 'Cargo 200' vehicle, we transport the bodies of civilians,
ours and Ukrainian soldiers
[GEO] Graz, Austria 2018
[VO] In the face of death, we’re all equal.
[Peter Sixl, Architect, Board Member, Black Cross Memorial And Search Organisation, Austria]
[Peter] We are all human
[Peter] Soldiers and people who died in captivity have mothers and families
[Peter] It doesn't matter what nationality or faith a person belongs to
[Peter] A mother's grief is the same everywhere
[Peter] We're currently working with the Russian embassy,
and we can now install nameplates in cemeteries
for those we now know about
[Peter] We've done this in the cities of Graz and Furstenfeld:
more than 1,000, more than 1,000 nameplates
[Peter] This is my life's work
[Peter] As long as I live, I will carry on
[VO] Austrian Peter Sixl spent over 30 years
searching for information about Soviet people
killed in Austria during World War II.
[Peter] This is the largest burial place in the Central Cemetery
[Peter] We managed to confirm 380 names
[Peter] There are a few other sites containing internees...
[Peter] POWs,
and concentration camp prisoners from Pegau,
the so-called 'Dead of the Night'
[Peter] I keep in touch with 50-60 families from the former Soviet Union
[Peter] They don't hide their relief
when they find out where their relatives are buried
[Peter] They know where their souls found peace,
so the eternal search and constant uncertainty ends
[VO] Peter's sterling efforts are covered in this book,
containing data on 80,000 Soviet people
buried in Austria during World War II.
[Peter] Russian...
an unknown Red Army soldier
[Peter] It's indicated here where he fell, and where his body was exhumed
[Peter] This is a clue
[Peter] Now, we need to search the list of the dead to find out his name
[VO] Sixl says proper burial of the dead is the duty of the living.
[VO] He and his team fund all their efforts by themselves.
[Peter] I would like to say that politics has no bearing on my work
[Peter] This is a purely humanitarian issue
[Peter] I don't want anyone to make dirty money out of this humanitarian work
[Peter] I don't want it to become a commercial entity
[GEO] Potsdam, Germany 2020
[VO] The feats of Russian fathers and grandfathers
are immortalised in monuments and memorials all over Europe.
[VO] Ordinary people lovingly tend the graves of Soviet warriors,
which often contradicts the position of their countries' authorities.
[GEO] Treptower Park, Berlin, Germany 2020
[GEO] Warsaw, Poland 2020
[GEO] Donbass 2023
[VO] Long-suffering Donbass has many memorials
honouring Great Patriotic War heroes,
and those of the current terrible war.
[Anna] The 'We Shall Not Forget, We Shall Not Forgive!'
where they first shot Jewish families here in Voroshilovgrad,
and more than 8,000 families, not community members, but families,
worked and lived here in the city of Voroshilovgrad
with absolute respect and dignity
[VO] But war came and most Jewish families
were slaughtered by the Nazis
and their Bandera stooges.
[VO] Israeli citizens often visit this memorial
to honour the memory of their loved ones.
[Anna] We keep in touch and keep
the 'We Shall Not Forget, We Shall Not Forgive!'
memorial in decent condition together
[Anna] This couldn't be done in the 1990s
because Ukraine blocked it in every possible way
[Anna] Now, everything's OK:
we all work together, Jews, Ukrainians, Russians, even foreigners
[Anna] Everyone here in Donbass is shown respect
[Anna] Nationality isn't important
[GEO] Netanya, Israel 2017
[VO] There are monuments dedicated to Soviet soldiers in Israel as well.
[VO] On May 9, after the parade, thousands of Israelis gather here.
[VO] Everyone here remembers the feats of Soviet soldiers.
[VO] At least, they did until quite recently.
[GEO] Jerusalim, Israel 2017
[Song] It is joy
with tears in our eyes
[Song] Victory Day!
[GEO] Kiev, Ukraine, 2015
[Protesters] Our heroes!
[Protesters] Our land!
[Protesters] Our heroes!
[VO] But times have changed.
[Protesters] Glory! Glory! Glory!
[Anna] I think the reason Israel ignores the Neo-Nazism
that's reared its head in Ukraine
is political
[Anna] To defy the whole international community,
which supports Ukraine and its Neo-Nazism,
may be quite unpopular and disadvantageous
[VO] Nazism was born in Europe and it failed to subdue it.
[VO] The so-called humanism of Western countries is selective and discriminatory.
[VO] The death of an American or European is deemed a tragedy,
but no tears are shed for Iraqis, Afghanis, Syrians, Palestinians, Russians,
(and even Ukrainians, Europe’s supposed allies),
who can be robbed and slaughtered in droves.
[Anna] I'm very sorry for my former people...
former people
[Anna] I can't say more
[Anna] I really hope this will stop one day
[Anna] There's no statute of limitations on this, it has just one name: genocide
[VO] NATO supports Ukrainian neo-Nazis.
[VO] The West’s brand of murdering fascism respects no one.
[VO] And never has!
[VO] The extermination of peoples in territories of economic interest to them
has been going on for centuries.
[VO] Talking to Western politicians seems a pointless waste of time.
[VO] They adhere to the principle that ‘might is right’.
[Peter] The power of economics is always closely related,
and most sponsors of war are also arms lobbyists
[Peter] Sadly, there's an economic factor
[Anna] Every soldier understands that to order an army to kill its own people
requires a lot of support from the West, as well as a particular goal
[VO] The collective West's goal is to live at the expense of others.
[Anna] When someone says the war began with the SMO (Special Military Operation) on February 22, 2022,
this isn't true
[Anna] It officially began on April 14, 2014...
and even a little earlier,
when our friends and colleagues in the Berkut internal troops
began to die on Maidan in November of 2013
[GEO] Maidan, Kiev 2014
[Anna] Until Europe, the US, and the UK calm down,
there'll be no end to this war
[Man] The Nazis knew that their sons were in the militia
[Man] They shot him... There, see?
[Man] What is this?
[Man] He never harmed anyone
[Anna] We've been gathering data on all the dead since 2014
about the Ukrainian regime's crimes against the people of Donbass
[Man] On different days…
[Man] Two died here. It's all written there
[Man] There was a guy in his 40s and his wife here
[Man] These crosses are often hit by shrapnel, right?
[Man] Yes!
[Anna] Look, you have a list of 739,
and we have 601 missing person profiles
[VO] In Ukraine, certain people believe they have the right to exterminate the inhabitants of Donbass.
[VO] This belief arose a long time ago:
in children's textbooks,
which taught from an early age that Russians are enemies that must be killed.
[VO] And in this process, historical facts were shamelessly revised.
[Sergey] There was a tragedy that occurred back in the 1930s
[Sergey] It was a famine that resulted from a blend of economic
and climatic phenomena, which occurred over a vast area:
the Volga Region, Central Asia, Ukraine
[Sergey] It caused the deaths of millions of people
[Sergey] And, now, the Ukrainians persistently...
[Sergey] And not just them in recent times
[Sergey] This trend has also emerged in Kazakhstan and other republics...
[Sergey] It's presented as a deliberate action taken directly by Moscow authorities
[Sergey] They write that in textbooks
[Sergey] A child reading about the famine
isn't given a chance to think about what caused it
[Sergey] Most people who died in the 'Holodomor' (the widespread famine of 1932–33 in Ukrainian SSR within the borders, which existed at the time)
were in the Volga Region: Russian peasants
[Sergey] That should be known
[Sergey] It's scary when a young person grows up thinking
there were people who wanted to kill them through their ancestors
[Sergey] From childhood, this person is taught that they have an enemy,
and they must do all they can to kill that enemy, or the enemy will kill them
[Sergey] We can clearly see from the cover who sponsors this:
The European Council and UNICEF
[Anna] A 5th-grade history textbook published in 2018...
[Anna] National 'Memorial to Holodomor Victims in Ukraine' Museum in Kiev...
[Anna] This separation of the Russian and Ukrainian peoples' history
is deliberate
[Anna] And they blame Joseph Stalin
[Anna] UPA commander Roman Shukhevich glorifying Ukraine's Insurgent Army
[Anna] Although it was them that killed civilians
[Anna] They use subliminal messages in propaganda and ideology:
NLP and other methods
[Anna] Many people may have wanted to act differently,
but the system of power is now built in such a way
that coercion and sanctions will immediately follow
[Anna] So, punishment
[VO] This is one of the war's most dreadful aspects.
[VO] Dead civilians and soldiers from both sides
are found here every single day.
[VO] They need to be identified, their relatives traced, and the bodies buried.
[GEO] Village of Toshkovka-1, LPR 2023
[VO] Selfless and heroic people are doing this work.
[VO] And hardly anyone knows about it.
[VO] They won’t be written about in history textbooks,
and no songs or poems will be composed about them.
[VO] Nevertheless, they all suffer the hardships and terrible consequences of war.
[Anna] I can't say it's all easy and smooth
[Anna] There's been turnover
[Anna] because people often prefer to stay in their own inner cocoon
[Anna] Few understand that, outside their cocoon, this work can be hard
from a psychological, and even psychiatric point of view
[Anna] Working with remains is one thing
[Anna] Working with people whose relatives have died is another
[Anna] Going to the front, often to the line of conflict,
is also another thing altogether
[Yulia] When I take calls on our hotline,
I hear tears
I hear grief
I worry along with the callers
[Yulia] I accept burial applications from them
[Yulia] After that, we move out
[Anna] Once, Yulia and I went to Rostov to pick up our guys' bodies
as part of an exchange
[Anna] We identified them and took them home
[Anna] We had a vehicle with just one cabin for the driver and passengers,
so we all went together: the bodies and us
[Anna] When we got to the morgue, the guys were shocked
that we girls had driven all night in a car full of...
well, remains
[Anna] We, honestly, didn't even give it a thought
[Anna] It was tragic, yes, but also heart-warming
because we finally found them, were able to identify them,
and were taking them home to their loved ones,
so they won't have to look for them or wonder where their bodies lay,
being eaten by dogs, foxes, or whatever
[Anna] Alive or dead, they're all people:
they're relatives, friends, someone's dads, husbands, and sons
[Anna] So, there's no attitude towards their remains,
as if they're something negative
[GEO] Village of Toshkovka-1, LPR 2023
[VO] Anna Soroka’s group helps those who’ve lost loved ones
or were left homeless and without food,
and also negotiates with the Ukrainians on the exchange of dead soldiers' bodies,
a process that isn't always peaceful.
[Anna] We argue with the Ukrainians when we plan exchanges
[Anna] I say, 'This isn't about me, I stayed here, I'm from Lugansk
[Anna] I live just as I always did, only there's a war on now
[Anna] It was you who ran away
[Anna] And now you simply bow down to God knows what'
[VO] Time doesn't wait.
[VO] Evidence of the Ukrainian Army's crimes could be lost,
and the mass graves levelled to the ground.
[VO] But people's hope of finding their relatives,
and burying them in a decent manner, remains.
[VO] A person's story hasn't ended until they are found and buried.
[Anna] This is a sacred place for Lugansk residents
[Anna] It's where Lugansk's civilians rest,
killed by Ukraine's military-political leaders
in the awful events of summer 2014,
when, every day, every hour,
the city was heavily bombarded by artillery, PEOPLE! SO LONG AS YOUR HEARTS BEAT, REMEMBER AT WHAT COST THE HAPPINESS WAS GAINED - PLEASE, REMEMBER!
aviation, and rocket launchers
[Anna] Just for living here,
raising children, thinking, dreaming...
[Anna] I don't know how Ukraine will ever be able to justify this
[VO] It was a large mass grave,
and the dead were exhumed, identified,
and buried in a Christian manner.
[VO] However, not all of them, so the work is ongoing.
'WE SHALL NOT FORGET, WE SHALL NOT FORGIVE!' MEMORIAL VILLAGE OF VIDNOE, LPR
[VO] A large Memorial was opened here recently.
[Anna] For 9 hard years, we've been coming to this:
a decent memorial to our fallen...
who now really defend our Homeland like sentries from heaven
[Anna] The memory of this place hasn't left the hearts of our team for a minute
[Anna] It hurts to recall our beloved city of Lugansk, and summer 2014,
when all was fire and pain!
[Anna] Here, apart from Lugansk citizens killed in the summer of 2014,
the elderly and disabled at the Kremen nursing home,
burned alive in March 2022, have found their final resting place
[Anna] Popasnaya residents, used by the Ukrainian Army as human shields,
also rest here...
as do the remains of Ivan Selekhov: a Voronovo village resident,
tortured to death by Ukrainian executioners
because his sons had taken the militia's side
[Anna] The memory of these people will never fade from our hearts
ETERNAL MEMORY, HERE LIE PEOPLE, KILLED BY THE HAND OF THE UKRAINIAN CRIMINAL REGIME
Father Aleksandr Ponomaryov Rector, Eleusa Icon Cathedral, LPR
[Father Aleksandr] We have been walking with death for 8 years,
and that's a very deep feeling
[Father Aleksandr] People here want peace, we want to live normally
[Father Aleksandr] We don't want to sleep every night, knowing we might not wake up
[VO] Archpriest Aleksander Ponomaryov,
rector of the church that venerates
the 'Tenderness' Icon of the Mother of God in Lugansk,
handles funerals in accordance with Orthodox canons.
[Father Aleksandr] The churches stayed open
[Father Aleksandr] Many said how good it is to hear the bells in hard times,
and how vital it is to go to church and pray for loved ones, their health,
and the defence of our land
[VO] There are no atheists in war, and miracles do happen.
...a treasure of goodness
and life to the Giver…
[Andrey Kuznetsov, Volunteer, Rubezhnoe, LPR]
[Andrey] A friend joined the militia in Antratsit, they had orders to take a wooded area
[Andrey] So they went there, got surrounded, and were ordered to leave
[Andrey] There were no locals there
[Andrey] He called, we had connection then, he said:
[Andrey] 'Andrey, I know, a priest, Hieromonk Luka, ask him...'
[Andrey] He was ill
[Andrey] I saw the priest and said: 'A friend asks you to pray for him'
[Andrey] He said: 'Go with God, all will be well'
[Andrey] In half an hour, Kostya called: 'Andrey, we miraculously got out
[Andrey] A man suddenly came from a thicket, led us out, and disappeared'
[Andrey] Literally 5 minutes later, he said the whole forest was hit by 'Grads'
*GRAD 122-MM MULTIPLE ROCKET LANCHER
UNHEALABLE WOUND OF DONBASS
[VO] If it happens that a life couldn't be saved,
then it is right everything must be done to ensure that person is buried with dignity.
[VO] This is what the 'Memorial' employees do.
[VO] There aren't that many of them.
[VO] There’s a skeleton crew of 4 members, and 20 people in total.
[Anna] As a director, I admire the people who work on my team
[Anna] They all have character
[Anna] They all really see life as something of the utmost value
and are ready to lay down their lives for the benefit of these people
[Vladimir] More civilians have suffered than soldiers: children and elderly
[Woman] A gunshot wound to the leg here, guys
[Vladimir] I think, if there's war, soldiers must fight soldiers
[Vladimir] A person with a weapon has no right...
to kill someone without one
[VO] An armed person has no right to kill someone who is unarmed.
[VO] No right whatsoever!