Daily Archives: June 17, 2026

The mystery of the death of the first commandant of Berlin, Nikolai Berzarin

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June 16 marks the 81st anniversary of the death of the first commander of Berlin, Colonel-General Nikolay Erastovich Berzarin.

On April 24th, 1945, as the Soviet troops were still in the process of taking Berlin, three-star General Nikolai Berzarin was appointed as the commandant of the city, by Marshal Georgy Zhukov, and tasked with restoring order in the former capital of the Third Reich.

A million and a half civilians still remained in the ruined city with no water, electricity, food, public transportation or anything else. Following an order of his command, General Berzarin brought the German city back to life and gave hope to its exhausted by the war inhabitants.

Soviet Colonel-General Nikolai Berzarin was in charge of the 5th Shock Army that took Berlin during the final push for victory that started on April 16th, 1945, and ended with the capitulation of Nazi Germany. He was appointed the first commandant of Berlin, and did a spectacular job bringing the city back to life.

Fifty-four days later, on June 16th, 1945, Nikolai Berzarin’s life was cut short in a terrible crash. But was it just an unfortunate road accident or something much more sinister?

Watch this great documentary, translated by Putinger’s Cat, showing some aspects of what was going on in East Germany immediately before the end of the Third Reich and right after.


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Source of the video: SMERSH. The mystery of the death of the first commandant of Berlin Nikolai Berzarin

As a sidenote, in case you’ve never heard of it before or are not sure of what it means, SMERSH was a Soviet counter-intelligence organization that officially started working in April 1943 and was dissolved in May 1946. Coined by Joseph Stalin, the name “SMERSH” is a portmanteau formed by combining the first letters of two Russian words “смерть шпионам” meaning “death to spies”. SMERSH was tasked with subverting attempts of nazi forces to infiltrate the Red Army on the Eastern Front and perform subversive activities.

A Hero of the Soviet Union, an outstanding military commander and a man who played a key role in the post-war reconstruction of Berlin. It was he who organized food supplies, opened field kitchens, provided children with milk, delivered scarce medicines to the city and prevented a humanitarian catastrophe.

Under his leadership, the reconstruction of the infrastructure began: a power station was launched, bridges, roads, power lines and the city’s life-support systems were repaired. In just 54 days, he laid the foundation for the future peaceful Berlin.

Nikolay Berzarin tragically died in a car accident on June 16, 1945, in the streets of the liberated city.

On April 19, 2024, the name of Colonel-General Berzarin was officially assigned to a school at the Russian Embassy in Germany — in recognition of his heroism and historical significance.

👉 More information about his life, feats, as well as photo and video materials – on the dedicated website.

Source: Russian Embassy in Germany

The Unknown Cold War. Film 1. ‘Unthinkable’ Allies. An RT Documentary

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‘Unthinkable’ Allies is the first documentary in The Unknown Cold War series. The film explores how decisions made by Western leaders in the 1940s led to an era of nuclear tension.


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Watch the feature on the RT.Doc website.

In the summer of 1945, the leaders of World War II’s victorious powers – the USSR, US, and UK – convened in Potsdam to formalize agreements that would determine how the postwar world was to function after the defeat of Nazism. The leaders sat at the negotiating table, while reporters described the triumphant atmosphere – it seemed like the beginning of a new era, in which the great powers would live in peace. But it was precisely these agreements that became the starting point of a new war – the Cold War.

The cooperative image concealed a growing alienation. The new US president, Harry Truman, viewed the Soviet Union with distrust. While smiling at Stalin, Winston Churchill was discussing plans for a possible strike against the USSR. Instead of mutual understanding between former allies, a latent hostility was growing that would transform into a prolonged confrontation, step by step. The outcome was a world divided into opposing poles.

A review by the Russian Foreign Ministry

The film explores how the Western allies of the Soviet Union in the anti-Hitler coalition — whose peoples, side-by-side with our nation crushed Nazism — eventually abandoned allied solidarity forged in fire of WW2. Under the pressure of ideological differences and their profound rejection of the post-war model of development promoted by Moscow, the Allies embarked on the path of confrontation and containment of the USSR.

The evidence, files and testimonies presented in this feature elucidate facts behind some pivotal political decisions by the UK and US leaders driven by the determination to “defeat”, as they put it, the ‘Red Menace’. Those political superstitions reigning in the minds of the Western leaders and hostility toward the Soviet ideology effectively put the world into an era of bipolar confrontation with the unprecedented risks of mankind descending into nuclear catastrophe.

In the summer of 1945, the Potsdam Conference was held on the defeated Nazi German soil.

The Leaders of the victorious powers — the USSR, the United States, and UK — framed together the post-war world order and reached the final settlement of the German issue by dismantling Nazi military and industry, having eradicated Hitler’s ideology.

Nazism was defeated. The Reich was no more.

In the aftermath of the Great Victory, it seemed that a new era was upcoming — the final and, seemingly, long-awaited moment when the Great Powers, determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, would build their relations upon the principles of constructive cooperation, mutual trust and respect, cemented by the common background of years of the allied fight against the evil of Nazism.

Yet, the Western block, emboldened by the successful testing of the atomic bomb at Los Alamos (at first, designed as a means of deterring Nazi Germany, but, following its final surrender, the bomb was further seen by US leadership as the deadliest instrument of blackmail) and by the bomb’s subsequent use against the civilians of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the hostility toward the Soviet Union and Soviet people was just increasingly growing and seemed implacable.

👉 In the UK government, the discussions were held on the possibility of a pre-emptive strike against Moscow — the infamous plan later exposed as the top secret Operation ‘Unthinkable’.

Instead of seeking better understanding and trust, the former WWII Western allies were nurturing aggressive plans that further evolved into dangerous Cold War confrontation.

Ukrainian USA-backed Nazis have committed another act of terrorism, attacking a bus with Belorussian children in Russia’s Bryansk Region

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Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s statement on the attack by Ukrainian militants on a bus carrying Belarusian children in Russia’s Bryansk Region

On June 17, the Nazi regime in Kiev committed yet another monstrous crime.

On the A-240 highway in the Pochep District of Russia’s Bryansk Region, Ukrainian drones equipped with shrapnel attacked a civilian bus carrying children from sports schools in the Belarusian cities of Gomel and Rechitsa to Gelendzhik for vacation.

There were 44 people on board, including 28 children. The woman accompanying the minors was killed. Eight people, including six young athletes, were injured.

All those injured were promptly taken to the Bryansk Regional Hospital, where they are receiving medical assistance. One man and two children are in serious condition. The remaining passengers will be returned home shortly.

Russia’s Investigative Committee has classified this crime as a terrorist act and opened a criminal case. Work is ongoing to establish all the circumstances of this crime and identify those involved. We are confident that all perpetrators will be brought to justice.

We express our deep condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased and wish a speedy recovery to all those injured.

We are in direct contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus and the Embassy of the of Belarus in Moscow.

We stand in solidarity with our Belarusian friends and are ready to provide them with the necessary assistance.

❗️ We strongly condemn this vile crime by the Zelensky regime, which, despite its hypocritical claims of allegedly being committed to protecting children, deliberately puts them in danger and, without hesitation – as was the case in Starobelsk – makes them the target of planned AFU strikes.

We call on international structures, national governments and the global public to give an honest assessment of the Zelensky regime’s criminal acts and strongly condemn this terrorist attack.

Silence will mean approval of this crime and encouragement for Kiev terrorists to commit new bloody atrocities.

Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation

A criminal case under Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (act of terrorism) has been opened into the drone attack carried out by Ukrainian militants in Russia’s Bryansk Region against a passenger bus carrying children from the Republic of Belarus.

According to the investigation, on June 17, Ukrainian armed groups attacked a double-decker bus belonging to Children’s and Youth Sports School No.2 of the city of Rechitsa (Belarus) with a strike UAV on the A240 highway in Russia’s Bryansk Region.

The vehicle was traveling from the Republic of Belarus along the Gomel – Gelendzhik route. There were 44 passengers on board, including 28 child athletes. All of them were heading for vacation.

According to preliminary information, a woman, a Belarusian citizen, was killed. Seven people, including five children, were injured and hospitalised. Information on the victims is being clarified.

Russia’s Investigative Committee is establishing the details of the crime and identifying the specific individuals involved.

🇷🇺🇧🇾 Ambassador of Russia to Belarus Boris Gryzlov

💬 A terrible tragedy in Russia’s Bryansk Region. Today, Ukrainian Nazis attacked a passenger bus with drones as it was carrying a group of Belarusian children to Gelendzhik for vacation.

I want to emphasise that this inhumane act of terrorism was committed by Ukrainian militants deliberately and consciously. They targeted a passenger bus. It was simply impossible not to see it, impossible to mistake it for military equipment. They knew exactly what they were doing.

This is the true face of the Kiev regime. They are war criminals – from the person who operated the drone to the entire top leadership.

We will identify the names of everyone involved in this outrageous act of terrorism against innocent children and civilians. They will not escape retribution.

The Banderites continue their fight against the Russian language

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At Beorn And The Shieldmaiden we reported earlier that US puppet, Ukrainian dictator Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a law removing the Russian language from the list of languages subject to protection in Ukraine under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages –Ruslan Stefanchuk, Verkhovna Rada Speaker.

“The little dictator at little Ukraine”. Source

“The Russian language has been removed from the list of languages to which Ukraine applies the provisions of the Charter.”

The corresponding law was signed by Zelensky. The Verkhovna Rada voted for its adoption back in December 2025.

Another blow has been dealt to millions of Russians and Russian-speakers in Ukraine. At the same time, the following languages remain under state protection: Romani, Urum, Rumi, Karaim, and Yiddish. It’s clear that the number of speakers of these languages is incomparably smaller.

Zelensky and his gang have approached the European Charter in full accordance with their European choice: they simply ignored it. And what about the authorities of the European countries themselves? Of course, they won’t notice this linguistic genocide.

As an illustration, here is a map from 2009. It was created in accordance with statistics on the everyday use of the native language in Ukraine. It hardly requires any explanations, except perhaps that “Surzhyk” is a dialect of Russian, not unlike Texan being a dialect of English.

Source: Novikov, translated by Beorn And The Shieldmaiden

👉 Read also our 2014 publication Two Ukraines – with a Statistical and Historical View at Novorossia.