[Ekaterina] It must've taken me a week to accept the kind of life
that's considered normal here
[Ekaterina] Many will only get it if they go there. Everything's different:
the air, water, people are different, all is different...
[Ekaterina] It makes you uneasy
[Ekaterina] It was hard returning to normal reality
[Ekaterina] 2 weeks there and back to peaceful life! The guys are there 24/7
VOLGOGRAD, NOVEMBER 2023 'TIME OF HEROES' FESTIVAL
[Woman] Why are you crying? Don't cry! It is war
THANK YOU FOR THE FILMS! INCREDIBLE FESTIVAL! THANK YOU SO MUCH!
[Ekaterina] We must honour heroes past and of course present
[Reporter] You've just returned from Donbass. Tell us your impressions
[Ekaterina Yakovleva, General Producer, 'TIME OF HEROES' International Festival]
[Ekaterina] Which ones? It's hard
[Reporter] Donetsk! How did it feel to hold screenings on the frontline?
[Reporter] I guess some emotions stayed with you afterwards?
[Ekaterina] Hold on...
PEP SQUAD
[GEO] Zaporozhye Region Regiment 1430
[Song] Do you hear the October rain falling? See an old house in the woods?
UNITED STRENGTH FROM PEOPLE TO THE FRONT
[Song] Do you hear the October rain falling? See an old house in the woods?
[Ekaterina] Great! Super! Love it
[Ruslan] When else will a woman do that for them, Katya?
[Ekaterina] Indeed [Ruslan] In person
[Ekaterina] Eloquently put!
[Ruslan] The director of a documentary channel has come to the front
[Ruslan] And look how she tends to the soldiers
[Ekaterina] How else? [Ruslan] A real Russian women!
[Ruslan Gusarov, War Correspondent, RTD]
[Ruslan] We're going to watch a film called 'United Strength'
[Ruslan] Gena will top it off
with some great music to round things off
[Ruslan] A film about those who support the frontline
[Ruslan] Not about what's going on here, although a bit of that too...
[Ruslan] But about how people count on you,
love you, wait for you, and help big time!
[Woman] I'll help in any way I can. For our victory, to help our lads in any way,
both materially and emotionally. We send them messages, notes in socks:
'Son, hang in there! We're with you'
[Song] Hark! The Homeland's strong and sure
[Song] We are Russians
with God on our side
[Ruslan] OK, brothers. We watched the film
[Gennady Dzyuba, Retired Colonel] Brothers, there are still a few of us left
[Gennady] Let's toast to good fortune on the shaky path, right and left
[Gennady] So ravens don't caw at us and curse our luck...
[Gennady] Let's raise a glass!
[Gennady] So ravens don't caw at us and curse our luck
[Gennady] Let's raise a glass!
[Gennady] The lads are in this state of inner mobilisation
[GEO] Mariupol, DPR, Russia, November 2023
[Gennady] And they don't let up
[Gennady] To evoke emotions in them, you have to bare your soul...
to see some response
[Gennady] Not by being a show-off or stagey. No! With honesty! With empathy!
[Gennady] It takes a long time for them to open up. A long time...
very long... Among themselves they try to be tough guys
presenting a hard exterior
[Gennady] And even when they smile,
they do it by forcefully straining their facial muscles
[Gennady] Of course, after you've managed to make them laugh...
[Gennady] Well, it's easier for me - it's the army!
[Song] How many times have I seen this!
[GEO] Donetsk, ‘Vostok’ Battalion
[Song] People queueing for tickets - the time has come
[Song] Some are leaving, some see others off, all on foot
[Song] People pass by, cities fade away
[Song] I'm waiting - we'll depart soon - and I'm smoking
[Song] Chatting about something with strangers next to me
[Song] Sometimes, these known places touch your heart in a special way
[Song] When you watch someone see a soldier off
[Song] A frail girl on the platform clenched her hands in anxiety
[Song] In the window, not her father's face - the clean cut of a young officer
[Song] A frail girl on the platform. The train will probably depart soon
[Song] Into the great unknown taking with it devotion, loyalty, grief, sadness...
['Syava'] Whoa! A Banderist crawling around!
[Radio] 'North!', 'North!'
['Syava'] Bearing received... What's there? Unclear, say again!
['Syava'] 'Syava' heard you, starting now. Let's go!
[Oleg] These people are doing a very important job. And all of you, too
[Oleg] That's why we're always with you!
[Olga] Thank you, Katya! [Ekaterina] No, thank you
[Olga, ‘Vostok’ Battalion] I haven't seen a documentary like this for ages. I mean it
[Olga] The rest look contrived. This is real life
[Callsign 'Syava', Vostok Battalion]
['Syava'] I'll go home, change, and get back there
['Syava'] Until it's over, we'll keep fighting
['Syava'] They're not as strong as they used to be
['Syava'] They botched the offensive, the situation has swung slightly
['Syava'] As we progress, the only question is how fast...
it'll all end. I think it will end soon
[Ekaterina] After all these screenings and talks, I realise we're doing something right
[Ekaterina] Actually, I'll remember every second of our trip...
every single day
[Ekaterina] It's been such an unforgettable experience, filled with emotion,
so to forget it is impossible
[Ekaterina] When you cross the border, pass that first roadblock,
you get the feeling the sky is different here
[Ekaterina] The air is different. Everything's very different
[Ekaterina] It's like you appeared in another world!
[Ekaterina] And the people here are completely different
[Ekaterina] They have totally different values
[GEO] Donetsk, 'Pyatnashka' (15th) International Brigade
[Song] We have nothing more to lose
[Song] They will recall everything at the Judgment Day
[Song] The night is like a mountain pass, beyond which hopes are fulfilled
[Song] What you've lived hasn't been in vain but that's not the point, you see
[Song] Do you hear the October rain falling? See an old house in the woods?
['Highlander'] Your mission and the overall job of war reporters
making films now is to document everything from a 1st person view
['Highlander'] The lads are telling the truth. That's vital to me
['Highlander'] It's something I care a lot about. I'm against frenzied propaganda,
against 'flag-waving patriotism'
[Ekaterina] How do you boost your morale?
['Highlander'] At the most dangerous bits of the front, we can tell the commander:
'Take the guitar, let's go!'
[Callsign 'Highlander', 'Pyatnashka' (15th) International Brigade]
['Highlander'] We get there and everything's exploding all around us
['Highlander'] We sit down in a dugout and sing, 'The night's so dark...'
['Highlander'] We sing 'Katyusha', 'Victory Day', just about anything
['Highlander'] Mayhem around us! And we're sitting in some bunker,
and I start singing quietly, 'Russia is our holy and mighty country!'
['Highlander'] Another joins me, and a 2nd, a 3rd... And then... 40 are singing
at the top of their voices, singing the Anthem!
['Highlander'] After the last verse, the commander says, 'Lads, charge!'
['Highlander'] Moments like that are very inspiring and encouraging. No matter what,
we always promise each other before combat
that no one gets left behind, you get your comrades out whatever the cost
['Highlander'] We call each other brothers. And the lads all believe it
['Highlander'] Why? Because we trust each other!
['Highlander'] A proper song is a universal solution in any situation:
it's a real conversation!
[Song] The dark sky glistens with cosmic dust...
[Song] Calm hovers above the living Earth
[Song] You can't see the hustle and bustle of everyday life from up there
[Song] The soul longs to leave the body and fly up there
[Song] The vastness of the night frightens even the birds
[Song] There, you feel no strangers near you
[Song] There, you feel no flow of time
[Song] And you're at peace there, like a star
[Song] My dream is to fly, to fly...
to have my soul soar and sing songs
[Song] To be as pure as dew, as clear as the sky
[Song] As free and happy as song birds
[GEO] Moscow Region, December 2023
[Ekaterina] The snow tastes great!
[Ekaterina] Let's get firewood!
[Ekaterina Yakovleva, General Producer, 'TIME OF HEROES' International Festival]
[Ekaterina] The most difficult part is to force yourself to live and work normally
here and now, but you always think about how it's going there
[Ekaterina] You've talked to these people, you've met them
[Ekaterina] You can't stop thinking about them, you worry about them constantly
[Ekaterina] You worry about the folks from Donetsk, and the family we visited
[Ekaterina] Thank God shells don't land on them. But you think, 'What if...?'
[Ekaterina] These thoughts are constant
[Ekaterina] I don't know, like it's taken root, and you live with it, while others don't
[GEO] Donetsk, November 2023
[Ekaterina] It's very close, judging from what we see from the window
[Oleg] There's been 3 shells [Ekaterina] You could hear 3 shells
[Ekaterina] And the last one was loud, as if…
[Ekaterina] I've never even heard it before
[Ekaterina] I've heard something like it, but they were shelling Avdeevka
[Ekaterina] This time, it was close
[Oleg] Where we had lunch today [Ekaterina] We had lunch there?
[Oleg] Yes, near there, on that street [Ekaterina] Lunch, we had 30 minutes ago?
[Ekaterina] Here's Kosarev
[Kosarev] Several Ukrainian missiles hit the centre of Donetsk. One...
hit this building
[Ekaterina] Did you hear? [Oleg] Yes
[Kosarev] As you see, emergency services are working on the spot
[Ekaterina] You never know when a shell will hit you
or your neighbour
[Ekaterina] I don't get how you can live like this. We came and went,
saw a small part of it... but they've been living it for years,
not knowing when or where they'll strike...
night or day, what district it will be
[Ekaterina] I don't know...
[Ekaterina] What's more surprising, many don't even pay attention anymore
[Ekaterina] Shells are falling, and people don't even turn their heads
[Vartan Khachaturyan, RTD Producer]
[Vartan] Despite the good weather and that we're now taking a walk…
[Vartan] I can't brush off the feeling of inner concentration
[Vartan] And it always crosses my mind
that everything can change
[Vartan] Even, for example...
in Moscow, we carry around in our pockets a phone, a powerbank...
a wallet, passport...
[Vartan] I always carry a tourniquet here
[Vartan] I've been told that it's better to have it on me
[Vartan] And this thing also reminds me of where I am
[Vartan] A bang!?
[Ruslan Gusarov, War Correspondent, RTD]
[Ruslan] It's good we've come. It's not just another documentary
or something - it's an unusual trip
[Ruslan] Different units, locations, people
[Gennady Dzyuba, Retired Colonel] This black page will be turned over
[Gennady] We'll go back to our childhood
[Gennady] Let our kids rejoice at pigeons and have grandparents at their side
[Gennady] We'd raise a glass for sure. So let's try...
[Gennady] Anything sounds off, don't whistle!
[Gennady] Just chuck something to show I went wrong
[Gennady] 'Pidgeons' by Sergey Trofimov
[Song] In my barefoot childhood, remember I ran from hot rooftops at noon
[Song] And the spring wind blew the sail of bedsheets smelling of the seas
[Song] I have a white dove under my shirt, traded it for my bike in the morning
[Song] I'll surely be scolded at home, but I'm the happiest person around
[Song] So high above the ground, there's a flock circling…
[Ruslan] My son has been serving in this regiment since day one
[Ruslan] When, at the end of September,
the president announced partial mobilisation...
on around 4–5 October
[Ruslan] Alan went..
to enlist
[Alan] Military police. Show your ID?
[Ruslan] How are you?
[Alan] Hello
[Ruslan] Thank you, Ekaterina! Uncle Oleg Yuryevich!
[Oleg] I knew you'd love it
[Ekaterina] He's such a big boy!
[Oleg] Hello, soldier! [Ekaterina] Good day!
[Ekaterina] Katya [Vartan] Vartan
[Gennady] Familiar faces! Hi! [Alan] ‘Professor’!
[Gennady] Fine fellow!
[Gennady] You've grown up! Handsome guy!
[Gennady] How come you're here? [Alan] We have our orders
[Gennady] We don't leave our people behind!
[Ruslan] Tokmak is 15km from the frontline
[Ruslan] Everything's very close. It gets shelled
[Ruslan] They move constantly between the frontline and Tokmak
[Ruslan] The guys are great. In the last year...
[Ruslan] I saw Alan and his comrades,
a regiment of ordinary soldiers - drivers, engineers, teachers -
some already have the Order of Courage, the Medal for Valour
[Ruslan] They've destroyed several armoured vehicles, performed feats
[Ruslan] Amazing things have happened
[Ruslan] Russian people can transform...
themselves fast
[GEO] DPR, Special Military Operation Zone, November 2023
[Alan Gusarov, Callsign 'Professor', Regiment 1430]
[Alan] Trips and rides…
[Alan] Explosions...
[Ruslan] When did they shell the city? [Alan] Last week, I think, shells fell
[Alan] Does this make sense to you, about the 'bad fields'?
[Alan] Such bad fields we have! They dumped a whole packet on 1 field
[Alan] Not even a forest, but 1 field here
[Ruslan] HIMARS? [Alan] 'Grad'
[Alan] There was a HIMARS...
[Alan] At about 15:45
[Ruslan] Where we were
[Alan] The UAF once again shelled Tokmak, here at the town hall
[Alan] The 1st missile was a HIMARS
In the city!
[Alan] The 2nd was...
[Alan] There's the 2nd
[Alan] Shrapnel damage
[Alan] There are 3 victims: 2 wounded, we don't know if the 3rd lived
[Alan] No one here is waiting for a rotation of forces
or an upcoming demobilisation, as has been rumoured
[Alan] A year or two more...
[Ekaterina] You're staying here for long? [Alan] Of course, we want to go home
but we're resigned. It's not cool here or much fun
[Alan] No one should be where there's shooting, and no one should shoot
[Alan] Let's live in peace
[Alan] Only without our country's enemies!
[Ruslan] Well...
it was good to meet my son. It was nice
[Ruslan] And leaving was…
harder!
[Ruslan] It's like…
all over again
[Ruslan] It's fine, he serves...
where he was assigned to
[Ruslan] His commander says he serves well
[Ruslan] Not worse than others
[Ruslan] We'll have to wait
[Ruslan] We'll wait…
[GEO] Donetsk, Archangel Michael Battalion
[Ruslan] Great!
[Ekaterina] Welcome to our improvised cinema. We've come to you from Moscow
[Ekaterina] We travel all over Donbass, showing the documentaries we filmed here
[Ruslan] Now, a documentary by RT TV
produced by RT DOC:
'Poets on the Frontline'
[Song] 3rd day sleepless, numb... But forward march is our fate!
[Song] My spring will surely come So let the whole world wait!
[Song] For 8 long years, a bitter fight, We've been resisting defeat
[Song] Now I glimpse a glowing light And hear your marching feet!
[Song] My Motherland is returning My Motherland is returning!
[Ekaterina] TV and the documentary film format allow us to tell more people about it
[Ekaterina] You can't refrain from talking about these guys, they're heroes for me too
[Ekaterina] These people are unafraid to come and speak the truth,
to perform concerts, songs, poems, and so on for you...
[Ekaterina] It's simply a call of the soul
[Song] I remember, long ago, my mum and dad taught me,
[Song] If you treat, treat them up...
[Ekaterina] Petya's nervous!
[Song] If you live, live it up, If you shoot, shoot them up!
[Song] But ducks are already high in the sky. If you fly, fly high up
[Song] I'll wave my hand at them!
[Song] I don't regret that I am living life sometimes randomly
[Song] I know that one fine day...
all will return and if it will be, then we will live!
[GEO] DPR, Special Military Operation Zone, November 2023
[Ekaterina] We're going...
to visit my brother
[Ekaterina] To Dima...
[Ekaterina] He got here about nine months ago
[Ekaterina] He is a military medic...
[Ekaterina] Darn, it's tough!
[Vartan] I went with 'Jim' to the companies' positions
[Vartan] He said he could take 1 person with him
[Vartan] Katya came up to me. She knew I could shoot with a 2nd camera
and asked me whether I would do it. Of course, I agreed
[Vartan] I was strongly advised to wear armour at all times
[Vartan] And I haven't regretted that I did because it's loud out there!
TO 'BARS-16' SOLDIERS FROM TRAFFIC PATROL
Don't hurry!
[Vartan Khachaturyan, RTD Producer] Oleg, set the zoom to be more smooth, right?
[Oleg] Better not zoom at all. Adjust the frame and hold it!
[Oleg] No zooming is necessary - it won't work either way
[Vartan] So 'Jim' and I, with their new medic Natalya,
who joined the guys only yesterday
went to the locations, to where the companies are,
where, I gather, the soldiers undergo rotation
['Jim'] How can I help? Run and shoot, even kill the enemy, yes...
['Jim'] Well, that's it...
['Jim'] If necessary, of course...
[Dmitry Yakovlev, Callsign 'Jim', Field Medic, BARS-16 Battalion]
['Jim'] I can go one-on-one with the enemy
['Jim'] I have enough in me for this
['Jim'] But I can help more by...
saving and rescuing our soldiers...
providing them with first aid and medical assistance
[Natalya, Medic, Bars-16 Battalion] Cotton and spirit? Oh, some napkins...
[Natalya] Well?
[Natalya] Let's go [Soldier] Also in the evening. Twice a day
[Natalya] Like this? [Soldier] 'Jim' does it a little rougher
[Natalya] There needs to be some kind of difference between us
[Natalya] Alright then, look: we still need to do...
[Natalya] another injection, pm? [Soldier] Yes, roughly between 5 and 6 pm
[Soldier] I'm going to the position at 9
[Natalya] I'll need to receive patients here...
so I need to clean up. I'll sleep over there
[Natalya] That's how it'll be
['Jim'] They hit this area every day
['Jim'] Vartan, we got to the 'Red Zone' - the enemy's just 2 km away
SEPARATE SPECIAL OPERATIONS UNIT BARS 16
[Ekaterina] Dima... 'Jim'. I can't get used to his callsign being 'Jim'
[Ekaterina] He has a lot of work to do right now,
so he's away. For now, he can't join and be with us,
so we're postponing our event a bit. We sit and wait
[Ekaterina] We listen to...
[Ekaterina] There!
[Ekaterina] I don't know if it's flying out...
or flying in. I have no idea
[Ekaterina] We were walking around…
[Ekaterina] Callsign 'Berendey' led the excursion
[Callsign 'Berendey', BARS-16 Battalion] Our guys recently went for a sofa and ran into a tripwire
[Ekaterina] Seriously? It's mined there? ['Berendey'] Yes, don't walk round the building
[Ekaterina] I won't. OK. ['Berendey'] Some things were cleared
and some were missed, as always
['Berendey'] The sappers will inspect everything - I see
[Ekaterina] We haven't experienced such conditions on this trip before
[Ekaterina] The end of our journey was extreme
['Berendey'] The auditorium. It's a mess in there
['Berendey'] Yes, it's a mess
['Berendey'] There are no windows there
['Berendey'] So we don't live there
['Berendey'] The warehouse
['Berendey'] 'Baloo' lives here, head of the medical staff
[Ekaterina] 'Baloo', it says. There must be a 'Bagheera' too!
['Berendey'] We went through that room. It's for the head of the food warehouse
[Ekaterina] Boom! Is that ours? ['Berendey'] Ours are firing, over there
['Berendey'] You'll hear them in the evening. The offensive is underway:
intense 'Grad' (122-MM Multiple Rocket Launcher) fire
[Ekaterina] So, no need to worry? ['Berendey'] Don't worry
['Berendey'] I mean, so far, nothing has reached us, as it did at the old place
['Berendey'] Here's too far away [Ekaterina] Too far away
[GEO] Moscow Region, December 2023
[Ekaterina] I remember my brother, when I saw him going in, he was just...
[Ekaterina] I don't know, some kind of Rambo!
[Ekaterina] I mean, I never thought that I had a brother like that
A LETTER TO THE HEROES [Ekaterina] He was given a Medal for Bravery. I know he really deserves it
[Ekaterina] And not just him
[Dmitry Yakovlev, Callsign 'Jim', Field Medic, BARS-16 Battalion] Everyone has the same motivation:
victory... courage, heroism
[Dmitry] It's unequivocal. There's truth...
[Dmitry] The truth
[Dmitry] Death is the enemy ahead. Life and Russia are behind us
[Dmitry] And above us, God is the truth
[Dmitry] So, everyone is a hero here
[Film] Did you hear the mortar?
[Film] Boom!
[Film] There's no one ahead of us except the enemy - no one else!
[Film] They're just a grenade throw way...
or a rifle shot
'COSSACKS' DOCUMENTARY
[Film] There's no one there, only…
only the enemies!
[Ruslan] Coming and going from here is no tourist picnic
[Ruslan] It's very dangerous! And what happened to us... Well, we got lucky
[Ruslan] That shelling in the centre of Donetsk...
we weren't there, although quite near...
[Ekaterina] Yes. 500m!
[Ruslan] Zhenya and I were still on the road, but you were there
[Ruslan] It can happen any time
[Ekaterina] We had... well, everything turned out okay
[Ekaterina] I don't know, someone was looking out for us
[GEO] Lisichansk, BARS-16 Battalion
[Ruslan] We've been travelling along the front for 2 weeks
[Ruslan] Today, it's a great honour to be here with you
[Ruslan] Our friend came with us:
pilot...
a 1st-Class Civil Aviation instructor - an Airborne Forces colonel
[Ruslan] As one can never be a former colonel – Aleksandr Zaitsev
[Soldier] Can you play 'Sineva'? [Aleksandr] 'Sineva'?
[Soldier] Yes! [Aleksandr] Sure
[Aleksandr Zaitsev, Retired Colonel]
[Ruslan] Troopers sing along!
[Song] The blue has splashed, it has splashed around
[Song] Spilled over the vests and over the berets
[Song] Even in our hearts, the blue is to be found
[Song] Spreading its alluring light
[Song] Even in our hearts, the blue is to be found
[Song] Spreading its alluring light
[Voice] Bravo!
[Ruslan] Let's hear it for Sasha Zaitsev
[Ekaterina] When you give them... a song, or, I don't know, a portrait...
a film...
then it's already…
[Ekaterina] I don't know. I think they like it
[Ekaterina] It's the right thing to do
[GEO] Lisichansk, BARS-16 Battalion
[Song] Just remember, guys
that you have to live for two now
[Song] For yourself and for the soldier
who had stayed in the war
[Song] When, in a victory march, you pass along by us
our souls, the souls of the fallen,
will proudly escort you
[Ruslan] Lisichansk! The frontline is just... 3 km away!
[Oleg] 3 kilometres from here
[Ruslan] They're all on the floor! At least light the stove
[Ekaterina] It's already warm! God's with you. Sleep, comrades!
[Ekaterina] We went to bed. I heard an orchestra playing a cannonade:
everyone snoring in a different way
[Ekaterina] Beyond the plywood window - explosions...
people snoring, and you think: God, protect me till morning!
[Prayer] God, have mercy on us… Lord, have mercy!
[Prayer] Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!
[Prayer] Again we pray for our brethren, and all Orthodox Christians
[Prayer] Christ, our true God, through the prayers of His all-pure Mother,
of the Holy, glorious...
[Ekaterina] I keep thinking about it. It was a wonderful moment
[Ekaterina] A miracle! We all took communion with the myrrh-streaming icon
[Prayer] There is no good Comforter
apart from You, O Mother of God
[Prayer] Save me and protect me forever and ever. Amen
[Prayer] O Most Holy Theotokos, save us! Save us!
[Prayer] O Most Holy Theotokos
[Ekaterina] 'Gorynych'! He played the grand piano. He got it from somewhere
['Gorynych'] I have a question [Ekaterina] Yes?
['Gorynych'] I want a piano, first of all [Ekaterina] Yes
[Ekaterina] So, you joined up, and just said: 'I want a piano!'?
[Callsign 'Gorynych', Regiment 1430] No! I mean, it would be nice to have a piano
['Gorynych'] Because, when you have 5 minutes to spare, you can play
['Gorynych'] I'm no pianist. I just have a musical education
['Gorynych'] Actually, I'm a bassist
['Gorynych'] Well, it detaches you totally from what's going on. Well, for 5 minutes,
you can immerse yourself...
in another world...
['Gorynych'] A different reality
['Gorynych'] Everyone has their own way of taking their minds off stuff for a while
['Gorynych'] The piano works very well for me!
[GEO] Moscow Region, December 2023
[Ekaterina] We announced the film, and I watch it every day,
so this present reality doesn't suck us back in,
to avoid going back to how we were before going
[Ekaterina] When you come back, it seems it's all going on far away... on TV,
and that everything will be resolved
[Ekaterina] It won't resolve itself until we all unite and achieve victory
[Ruslan] It happens in society when people don't understand what's going on,
or how scary and dangerous it is,
and why it should be stopped. We must win...
[Ruslan] We must!
[Ruslan] Only then will peace come
EKATERINA YAKOVLEVA
RUSLAN GUSAROV
VARTAN KHACHATURYAN
EVGENY TROSHCHENKOV
GENNADY DZYUBA
ALEKSANDR ZAITSEV
ANTON MOTIN
YAROSLAV SHUYAKOV
OLEG NEKISHEV