Sevastopol. The Crimean city that the locals say survived three sieges, the longest one ending in 2014. The second siege was between 1941 and 1944, when the city ultimately fell under the German control yet retained it fighting spirit until its liberation.
Below is an NTV tribute to the Hero-City of Sevastopol with my translation of the transcript
By the start of WWII, Sevastopol was the largest port of the Black Sea, and the main maritime military base of the USSR. Thus it was among the first Soviet cities bombed by the German aviation on the 22nd of June 1941.
This song by the famous Russian heavy-metal group “Kipelov”, written 5 years ago to the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War deeply touched me. The powerful words, the strong voice of Kipelov and the documentary footage from the blockaded Leningrad, all merged into a whirlweend of emotions and memory.
The title of the song is “Непокорённый” – “Nepokorjonnyj”, which means both “Unconquered”, abut also “Defiant”, “Unbowed”. And this word takes all these meanings in the song.
Lyrics translation is mine.
Небо Балтики давит свинцом, город держит за горло блокада;
Медный всадник и ангел с крестом батальонам подвозят снаряды.
Львы из камня срываются с мест, чтоб с бойцами подняться в атаку –
Непокорных жестокая месть. Наступление. Крушение мрака!
Припев:
Непокорённый, прошедший сквозь ад;
Непокорённый, герой – Ленинград!
Непокорённый, на все времена;
Непокорённый, город Петра!
Пишет Жизнь слабой детской рукой даты смерти на саване снега.
Что тогда бы случилось с тобой; смог остаться бы ты человеком;
Не сдаваться и в голос не выть, убивая за хлебные крошки;
Свет надежды сумел бы хранить под раскаты немецкой бомбежки?
Припев:
Непокорённый, прошедший сквозь ад;
Непокорённый, герой – Ленинград!
Непокорённый, на все времена;
Непокорённый, город Петра!
Чернота. Хрупкий Ладожский лёд, уходящие дети под воду.
Метроном отобьет скорбный счет всех погибших в блокадные годы.
Нервы города – к сердцу земли, силы взять, и к весне возродиться,
Медный всадник к победе летит, неподвластной забвению птицей.
Припев:
Непокорённый, прошедший сквозь ад;
Непокорённый, герой – Ленинград!
Непокорённый, на все времена;
Непокорённый, город Петра!
Город Петра!
Непокорённый!
The Baltic sky is laden with lead, the city is held by the throat by blockade;
Bronze Horseman and Angel with Cross bring shells to the forces forth.
Lions of stone break from their plinths to rise with fighters in charge –
The unconquereds’ brutal revenge. Offensive. Darkness will fall!
Chorus:
Unconquered, having passed through Hell;
Unconquered, the Leningrad-hero!
Unconquered, for all time;
Unconquered, the city of Peter!
Life writes with a weak child’s hand the dates of death on a shroud of snow.
What would have happened to you back then; could you have kept yourself human;
Not to give up and howl out loud, killing for crumbs of bread;
Would you be able to hold onto the light of hope under the thunder of German shelling?
Chorus:
Unconquered, having passed through Hell;
Unconquered, the Leningrad-hero!
Unconquered, for all time;
Unconquered, the city of Peter!
Blackness. The fragile Ladoga ice, and children going under.
The metronome will mournfully beat the count of those, died in blockade.
Nerves of the city reach to Earth’s heart, strength to take, and be reborn by the spring,
The Bronze Horseman flies to Victory, a bird that’s beyond the oblivion.
Chorus:
Unconquered, having passed through Hell;
Unconquered, the Leningrad-hero!
Unconquered, for all time;
Unconquered, the city of Peter!
The Gas Wars are continuing. Starting well during the time of USSR, when the USA tried to stop the supply of the Russian gas to Europe by the means of sanctions and provocations, through the Ukrainian gas machinations, when Ukraine was used as a patsy to sabotage and undermine Russian supplier reputation, while at the same time blackmailing Russia for cheap under-market-priced gas, which I wrote about in a 2014 article The Third Gas War: EU and US must pay for their “successes” in Ukraine.
Now the USA are trying to sabotage Nord Stream 2 by blackmailing Germany. This follows the successful blackmailing and sabotage of Bulgaria, which stopped the construction of the South Stream and depriving Bulgaria of about $700.000.000 and $800.000.000 per year over a span of 50 years – USA and EU successfully stole from Bulgaria about $37.500.000.000
And before that, USA/NATO invaded and bombed Yugoslavia, bombing into oblivion the gas refinery in the Serbian town of Pacevo in 1999.
All this recent, and not so recent, history is very well chronicled in the new English-subtitled documentary from Vesti: “The Great Gas Game”
UPDATE 2022: Since YouTube applied the “freedom of speech” principle and removed all speech that does not conform to the American directive on freedom, i.e. all Russian channels, including the one from the VGTRK that hosted the documentary, I re-uploaded a backup copy, which I happened to have, to Odysee.
One song especially touched me – “The Ballad of the Three Sons”. It is an allegoric song in which one can see echoes of the classic Russian folk fairy tales, as passed through the generations. It also holds a key.
On many occasions I saw the term of the “mysterious Russian soul”, which the Westerners bemoan having trouble deciphering and understanding. This song can unlock this mystery, as the key to the Rus soul is hidden in the actions and aspirations of the third son, while the first and the second sons depict the typical traits of the Western civilisations.
And so, here is the song by Tatyana Shilova, performed in the pure voice of Yaroslava Degtyariova, with my attempt at a translation below.
Yaroslava Degtyariova at the Day of Love & Family concert, July 8, 2017, Murom: THE BALLAD OF THE THREE SONS.
В краю средь гор и цветущих долин
Текла река, исчезая вдали.
Прекрасней не было страны,
Где рождались баллады и сны.
В дорогу звал глас таинственных гор.
Три сына там покидали свой дом.
Один был горд, другой – упрям,
А третий был сердцем смирён.
Слова Отца были грусти полны:
“В любви моей вы росли, как цветы.
Что ждёт вас там, в чужих краях?
Да хранит вас молитва моя”.
И звучало в ответ эхо горных вершин
“Сохраните богатство души
И любви нескончаемый свет”.
Прошли года, затерялись вдали.
В краю средь гор и цветущих долин,
Встречал отец своих детей,
После долгих разлук и скорбей.
И первый сын возвратился домой:
“Гордись, отец, – я великий герой.
Вся власть моя, и в этом суть
На крови я построил свой путь”.
Второй принёс золотые дары:
“Смотри, отец, я могу все миры
Купить, продать и слёзы всех
Превратить в серебро и успех.
И звучало в ответ эхо горных вершин.
Разменяли богатство души
Ради славы и блеска монет.
А третий сын на коленях стоял:
“Прости, отец, я великим не стал.
Смиренным был, врагов прощал”,
А отец с теплотой отвечал:
“Душа твоя и добра и чиста.
И пусть богат ты и знатен не стал,
Но ты хранил любовь мою.
Я тебе свой престол отдаю!
Но ты хранил любовь мою.
Я тебе свой престол отдаю!
И звучало в ответ эхо горных вершин:
“Кроток сердцем и духом смирён,
Верный сын унаследовал трон!”.
Amidst the mountains and blooming dales,
Where river flowed out of sight,
There was no land more fair,
Where the ballads and dreams were born.
Three sons were setting off,
To the call of the mysterious peaks.
One was full of pride, the other was stubborn,
While the third was pure at heart.
The Father’s words were with sorrow filled:
“As flowers you grew up surrounded by my love.
What awaits you in the far away lands?
Let my payer keep you safe.”
And the mountain peaks echoed back:
“Preserve the richness of your soul
and the never-ending light of love”.
The years passed, lost in sight.
In the land amidst mountains and the blooming dales,
The Father was welcoming back his sons,
After long tribulations and partings.
And so the first son returned home:
“Be proud of me, father – great hero I am.
All power is mine, and that’s the crux,
On the blood I paved my path.
The second one brought home the gifts of gold:
“Look, father, I can buy and sell
All the worlds, and turn the tears,
Into silver and luck.
And the mountain peaks echoed back:
You exchanged the riches of your soul
For fame and the shimmering gold.
While the third son sank down to his knees:
“Forgive me father, I did not become great.
I was filled with humility and forgave my foes”,
And the Father replied with warmth:
“Your soul is both kind and pure,
And even though you didn’t become rich and famed,
You kept my love true.
So my throne I shall give to you!”
You kept my love true.
So my throne I shall give to you!”
And the mountain peaks echoed back:
“Kind in heart and humble in soul,
The faithful son has inherited the throne!”
There are times when an article or an idea would sit as a draft for some time before seeing the light of publication, as if waiting for something. This article is of that kind, and it seemed to have been waiting for Lada Ray’s Forbidden History and Forgotten Origins webinars to catalyse me into putting some finishing touches and publishing it.
I first had an inkling of there being a connection between Tolkien’s depiction of Beorn and Rus when I was reading his books. Much later, that feeling returned as I was watching Peter Jackson’s dramatisation of The Hobbit. And the final pieces fell into place, while watching the behind the scenes documentaries on construction of Beorn’s house set and the visualisation of his character. I have created the shortened versions of the two documentaries to showcase the fragments that are especially interesting and telling for the topic at hand:
Before I proceed, let me reference my reader to another article of Lada Ray – Forbidden History: Are Scandinavians Slavs?. Many of the prerequisites are discussed there, so I would be repeating much of that article otherwise.
The Olympics ’80 song was written by R. Rozhdestvenskij, with music by D. Tuhmanov and is sung by Tõnis Mägi, a pupolar in USSR Estonian singer. He, alas, betrayed the spirit of this song later in 2014, when he initiated boycott of Steven Seagal, who performed in Sevastopol after Crimea’s democratic reunification with Russia.
Still, whatever his present views and actions are, that is no reason to boycott him or write him out of history. And so, the excellent Olympics ’80 anthem, performed by Tõnis Mägi, with my translation of the lyrics to English below the video frame.
Unfurling high above and calling to us is this golden Olympic flame.
The Earth shall be happy and young!
We must do everything so that the Olympic flame is not extinguished forever,
The Sun is starting into the sky, as if for the first time.
Реет в вышине и зовёт олимпийский огонь золотой.
Будет Земля счастливой и молодой!
Нужно сделать всё, чтоб вовек олимпийский огонь не погас,
Солнце стартует в небе, как в первый раз.
In this context, it is so much more important to get the balanced, honest reporting from Russia. Once such source that I came to trust, is the British independent journalist Graham Phillips. When the coup d’etat in Ukraine happened, he was reporting from Donbass, being one of maybe a handful Western front-line journalists honestly covering the conflict. He also reported from the construction of the recently opened Crimean bridge and the new international airport in Simpheropol, Crimea. His report from Artek children’s summer camp was a much needed counterweight to the lopsided negative reporting from BBC.
Graham’s latest work is from Russia as it prepares for the World Cup. The fist instalment is “Moscow – A Guide To! (2018)”. During the 72 minutes of the film, you’ll visit both the well-trodden and the less-known parts of Moscow, you’ll get to see stunning views and impressions from visitors to Moscow, and you’ll glean some of the capital’s history and unexpected trivia. So, without much further ado, here is the film!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwcxqWlCrUI
Make sure to visit Graham’s YouTube Channel and view his many other reportages.
Now that Victory Day – the 9th of May – is drawing close, we constantly see the ever-increasing attempts to re-write the history of WWII and to erase the Russian-Soviet victory which cost us 21 million people’s lives.
So does grow the importance of remembrance and of not allowing to have this memory to become sullied. Song has always been one of the strongest conduits of people’s emotions and memory, and the song below is a very emotional tribute and reminder.
Artjom Grishanov has the talent for condensing the essence of a topic into a few well-selected strong words, backed by equally concise and poignant imagery. Russian soldier saved the world shows in no uncertain terms what the West wants to have remaining of the memory, and what we really should be remembering. Please, take a moment to listen to it (with English subtitles) and to remember.
Transcript of the documentary and the song
UPDATE from November of 2023. The transcript below was done for our new Telegram channel “Beorn and The Shieldmaiden”, and published there in two parts: part 1, part 2.
Russian news anchor:
“Polish authorities intend to demolish more than 500 Soviet monuments. We are talking about the monuments erected in gratitude to the USSR for liberating this country from fascism.”
Some liberal speaking in Russian:
“These are all the pillars of the empire. Since the empire has been in the dumpster of history for 25 years, all these pillars must be sent there as well”
Ukrainian nationalists intimidating a WWII veteran (spoken in both Ukrainian and Russian):
“For your own safety, I recommend you to sit at home, calmly, quietly and to not provoke people.”
“Today you are punished.”
Intimidation of veterans on the 9th of May in Ukraine.
“- Get away those red rags”
“- How can you insult the memory of the veterans?”
On a talk show, a liberal, then confronted by the hostess of the show:
“- Yes, a person worries about the most precious and hides it. This is normal, in principle.”
“- Do not mix up a veteran with Pinocchio. He does not hide the most precious thing, he hides what is sacred.”
Some liberal:
“I understand why you hold on to the past so hard. It’s because everything is bad for you in the present, while you probably have no future at all”
President Putin:
“All attempts to distort, rewrite history are unacceptable and immoral. Oft-times, a desire to hide one’s own dishonour is behind such attempts.”
Poroshenko:
“The soldiers of the UPA are remembered as an example of heroism in relation to Ukraine.”
Yatsenjuk:
“We all remember the Soviet invasion of both Ukraine and Germany.
François Hollande, the president of France:
“They were our liberators. France will never forget what it owes to those soldiers, what it owes to the United States.”
Some Polish radio host:
“Why did we all get so used to the fact that Moscow is the place where the end of war is celebrated, and not, for example, London or Berlin, which would have been more natural?”
President Putin: “It only occasionally seems to us that they are speaking some kind of delirium nonsense. Pure nonsense. That it will slip past and no one will notice. No, you see, this is being implanted into the minds of millions of people.”
US citizens asked on the street:
“Who had the largest role, the most casualties in the fight against the Nazis during the Second World War?”
“- I am not totally [sure?]. Is it not the US?
“- France?”
“- Can you think of another country?”
“- America.”
“- Japan lost. Russia lost.”
“- Seriously? Which country took Berlin? Which army?”
“- The United States?”
“- I say the United States of America.”
“- The United States, Great Britain, France.
“- How about the Soviet Union?”
“- Yeah.”
“- It was the former Soviet Union?”
“- Oh, actually, it was Russia or the Soviet Union that had the most casualties. What’s you reaction to this? Are you surprised?”
“- Just, please, don’t put this on TV.”
The lyrics of the song:
Such a short memory –
It didn’t last even for 100 years.
Such a great impudence –
To cast a shadow over the memory of the victories.
The traitor chokes, spitting fire,
Looking askance at out Parade.
Oh, how he doesn’t like the truth that
Russian soldier saved the world.
Levitan’s radio announcement, chronicles:
“Today, on the 22nd of June, at four o’clock in the morning, without a declaration of war, the German troops attacked our country.”
The earth was torn to shreds
And the people were awakened by the war.
The horde invaded in the early morning,
Burning houses behind them.
The blow was devastating,
But the victory escaped their grip.
The enemy encountered the unheard of force –
The Russian spirit.
Chronicles:
“Today, not only Moscow is behind us, not only our vast Motherland. Today, the whole world is looking at us, holding its breath.”
It’s not enough to just kill it.
Just try to fell it to the ground.
It will gnaw with its teeth,
Even in an unequal battle.
The force was becoming stronger, day by day,
Just not a step back.
And the news broke out like thunder:
Russian soldier saved the world.
Russian soldier saved the world.
Russian soldier saved the world.
Meanwhile those who surrendered their cities
In the first days of the war,
Do not wish and will never comprehend
The joy of the Russian soul.
In the happy and torn-asunder May,
The Nazis’ hell was stopped.
Remember, never forget:
Russian soldier saved the world.
Russian soldier saved the world.
Then and now.
Quote:
“The gravest mistake is to dismiss the Russians, to consider the Russian people weak.”
“God forbid you mistreat or rob the Russians. They will return, demolishing any obstacle in their path.”
“Russians love peace, Russians build peace, Russians defend peace. Russians do not want war, but they can fight better, than anyone.”
The motto of the 9th of May: I Remember. I Am Proud. In the colours of the St. George Ribbon.
In 2014 Russian TV channel Culture aired a documentary, looking through the depth of time, trying to decipher who are Scythians, Sarmatians, Slavs and Russians, if they are one and the same people. The conclusion was mostly positive – yes, they are. The authors looked at the data from the chronicles, archaeology, linguistics and genetics, weighing arguments both for and against.
The film’s conclusion is open, and in a typical Russian way advocating peace and cooperation of all peoples, whoever their ancestors may be.
I want to add one material to better illustrate the point, made at 24:04, and citing Lavrentij Chronicles. I have the copies of those texts, and present the excerpt below with the words “Great Scythia” highlighted.
In the year 6415 Oleg went against Greece, having left Igor in Kiev; taking the multitude of Varjags, Slovens, Chudis, Krivichis, Merjus, Poljans, Severjan (Northerners), Drevljans (elder ones), Radimichis, Horvats (Croats), Dulebs, Tiverce, who are known as Tolkovny (Tolmachi – interpreters): and together they are called the Great Scythia (Velikaja Skuf’). And together with all of these Oleg went astride horses and in the ships, and the ships were counting 2000. And when they arrived at Czargrad, and Greece…
One notable thing, besides the mention of the Scythians as a collective name of the Slav people, is the date: year 6415. That is a separate topic of the Russia calendar, that was discarded by Peter I, and which lead to shortening and subsequent rewriting of the Russian history to suit the needs of the influentially growing Germanic aristocracy that was slowly taking over Russia’s political life at that time. I am going to publish a separate article about it soon.
Addendum: a 1531 map of Orontius Finaeus (Oronce Finé) came to my attention:
Leaving aside the fact that it shows the coastline of Antarctica, uncovered by ice – probably from before the quite recent Flood time, when that continent’s coastline was accessible, we can look at the following part of Eurasia and see…
Scytia – mentioned twice, as well as Tartaria, Russia, and Bulgaria – the latter where it was supposed to start, along the Volga (Volgari-Bolgari) river bank, East from the Crimean meridian.
And now, on to the documentary…
The formatted subtitle file in ASS format can be downloaded separately. Full text of the script is below the video frame.
Mihail Sergeevich Tolstyh – better known under the call sign of Givi – was one of the commanders of the Donetsk People’s Republican army, and he was the second commander, after Motorola, to have been murdered by Kiev in a terrorist attack.
So far, the West was in an almost total information black-out, when news from the civil war in Ukraine and the general disastrous state of affairs in that former country were concerned. A few European journalists would try to give a picture of the events, but their message would largely remain unheard. The best sources of information so far were Lada Ray’s Futurist Trendcast, The Saker, reports from the ground by the freelance crowdfunded journalist Graham Philips, who was there since the day of the referendum of 2014, which Kiev suppressed with artillery. Of the larger news agencies I can mention RT, crowdfunded Russia Insider, and some reports on EuroNews.
NewsFront and Inessa S published newly an English translated documentary about Givi, those soldiers he was responsible and their motivation to defend their land.
UPDATE from September 2022: seeing as YouTube removed this documentary, I re-uploaded my archived version to Odysee and Rumble.
Graham Philips has published his own tribute to Givi:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnPtxltOFlg
One of the YouTube commenters nails it:
Nate Sinadinovic
Reminder for Western viewers that just might have drank the Cool Aid of MSM Here is information detailed by somebody whom has taken a interest and information is realistic. Givi wasnt just some bum off the street, Givi served in the Ukraine army for 2-3 years and rose to the rank of Sargent and commander he finished his service and then returned to life as a civilian. When the Coup d’etat happened in Kiev in 2014 Givi was the one of the 1st to take up Arms when the New Regime announced the ATO operation in the East which Kiev said ‘Would take 72 hours’ 25,000 hours later and that ATO operation is still going on.
What Givi did is exactly what I would have done.
The old YT video as here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_SNvKzRCeo
UPDATE from September 2022: Quite a number of English-translated films listed in this post have disappeared from YouTube since I published this in 2017. I have update “The Visitor from the Future” with the working links, but could not find English translations of some of the other now-missing titles. Still, I am leaving them in the post as a future reference.
One characteristic of the Soviet films that I hold dear, is that they are humane, moral (often without being moralising), centre on the characters, rather than action and events. The films for grown-ups, be it a war-time film or a film about a mundane everyday life, would always have several layers of meaning – good film makers knew how to convey what they wanted to say to the audience without raising the alarms of censorship. All that resulted in films that would have depth, satire, criticism, thoughtfulness in them.
But here I want to write about children films. The films that formed our, my, world view, that taught us about fairness, compassion, friendship, the pitfalls of negative relations. They were a joy to watch, and they left a trace in your heart, a moral compass that no religion can give you, as morality was based on your own desire to do good, rather than fearing a punishment from the holder of the scriptures if you do wrong.
One such outstanding film is “The Visitor from the Future”, released in 1985 and filmed at the Central Studio of Children and Youth Films named after M. Gorky in Moscow. And the bright star of that film is its title song, “The Beautiful Faraway”. In 1985 nothing was outwardly speaking of the time of troubles that lay ahead, in just short 7 years, the Wild 90’s and the Desolation of Yeltsin. But in retrospect, this song turned out to be prophetic, and at the same time it was a testament, an oath of how to conduct oneself in the difficult times ahead, how to stay strong. The song does not promise paradise lands, but rather trials and only asks to not be treated too cruelly along the way to the unknown future, walking the untrodden path towards the future of 2084.
On the 25th of December 2016, 1/3 of the world-renowned Alexandrov Ensemble perished in a single plane crash, en-route from Sochy, Russia to Syria. This is tragic loss and a strong blow against Russia, against the singing ambassadors of Russia abroad and a bright symbol within.
As a tribute, I translated the following 2008 documentary, titled “The Singing Weapon”, which is how Winston Churchill referred to it after listening to its performance during the 1945 Yalta Conference in Crimea. If it is a weapon, then this ensemble is a “weapon” of peace unity and accord, which it brings with song and dance to all peoples.
The formatted subtitle file in ASS format can be downloaded separately. Full text of the script is below the video frame.
EDIT 11.05.2022
In the recent bout of censorship against all things Russian, YouTube also blocked the VGTRK channel, where the untranslatable original version of the film resided. I’ve now reviewed my translation, fixing a few things, and uploaded the video both to Odysee and to Rumble. The original you-Tube-related text is moved to the bottom of this post, past the transcript, for historic reference.
Back in 2017, when my translated version was taken down on third-party copyright claims, I relayed this development in a comment at Lada Ray’s Futurist Trendcast, and she nailed the overall problem in her reply:
Unfortunately, these silly indiscriminate western capitalist practices have penetrated Russia. Very sad. Those who do it are just like robots. They aren’t paid to think, just to block everything. Those at the helm don’t get it that you are actually helping promote their material by exposing it to wider western audience.
Alas, with this model Russian companies allow Western companies to control and censor what materials are available to the Western audience!
The complete song “Sacred War” (or “Holy War”) with my English translation of the lyrics:
Plus, an older translation in the comments on YouTube:
When I first heard of the crash, the tragic loss of almost the compete Red Army Choir – Alexandrov Ensemble, death of 9 journalists from three Russian channels, what tugged most at my heart, was mentioning of the Elizaveta Glinka’s name on the list of the people lost. She was know among the people by her endearing name Doctor Liza.
Throughout these past 2 years I have been reading about her valiant work, helping the children of the civil war-ravaged Donbass, where civilians, including many children, were (and still are) wounded, maimed and killed by the Ukro-Nazi artillery shellings.
Film: Doctor Liza, an Amazing Life (full English subs) – Доктор Лиза фильм
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC5–zWRqCY
UPDATE 2023: The two short interviews below are no longer available on YouTube.
Grapham Philips, I think the only Western (UK) freelance reporter, who documented the civil war in Donbass, share this fragment of interview with Doctor Liza, that he filmed in April 2016, telling her that “Many people think that you are an angel”:
She replied:
Let them say, Grisha (a kindly russification of Graham), it is funny, it is pleasant, but it’s funny. What kind of angel am I? I am just a common woman. Let them say it. As for work. I am working a lot. This is very hard, and there is nothing angelic in this work, you see. It entails long negotiations with bureaucrats, which are not always successful. See, for example, I just got a list. This is the new list for admissions to hospital. 2 wounded children. 2 blind children. Children born in 2014, that is already during the war. We are going to transport them, they are going to St.Peterburg, as hospitals in Moscow do not have places for such patients – and I want to draw the journalistic attention to this fact. And there are the documents for the children that have already been transported out – we work on each child case individually.
And in this April 2016 interview fragment to Graham, she tells that “Everything is possible”:
There was a girl, who was given a terrible outlook, and Vika (kindly shortening of Victoria), she became well, and was coming up to the guard and would dance – a little swan or some other part, she was making such a show – a child that could not even SIT before, she lay on the arms. So, you see… Everything is possible, Grisha (a kindly russification of Graham).
Doctor Liza, you will be remembered and stay in our hearts. Always.
These two RT articles, aptly capture the mood of this loss:
Renowned Russian humanitarian and charity activist Elizaveta Glinka, widely known as Dr. Liza, is feared dead after boarding the plane bound for Syria that crashed Sunday morning off the Sochi coast.
The 54-year-old head of the ‘Fair Help’ fund was supposed to travel to Latakia to deliver medical supplies to a hospital, according to the Human Rights Council.
Her fund also said that Glinka was “taking humanitarian supplies for the Tishreen university hospital in Latakia,” while the Defense Ministry confirmed the passenger list included her name.
There was some confusion regarding Glinka’s fate after the plane stopped over in Sochi for refueling. Several news outlets reported that she failed to board the flight after a security check.
As time passed, however, her mobile phone remained hopelessly switched off.
Eventually, Elena Pogrebizhskaya, author of a documentary film on Doctor Liza, wrote on her Facebook page: “Liza’s phone is out of coverage. She has not been in touch with anyone for 11 hours. This includes her family. Gleb [Glinka’s husband] says he wants to be alone… This is a nightmare.”
This was an additional shock to Russians on top of the death of the 64 members of the Alexandrov army choir.
“We were hoping for a miracle until the very last moment. And she was a miracle herself, a heaven-sent message of virtue,” head of the Presidential Council for Human Rights Mikhail Fedotov told Interfax.
“Dr. Lisa was the darling of all hearts for one simple reason. For many years, almost every day, she provided palliative medical care, feeding the homeless, giving them shelter and clothes. She took the sick and injured children from Donbass under a hail of bullets, so that they could get help in the best hospitals in Moscow and St Petersburg. She organized a shelter for children with amputated limbs, where they can undergo rehabilitation after treatment in hospital.
“To save the lives of others – this was her mission everywhere: in Russia, Donbass, Syria…” Fedotov added.
Born into a military family, which also includes a famous dietitian, Glinka graduated from the Russian National Research Medical Institute in Moscow to become a pediatric anesthesiologist. In 1986, she and her husband emigrated to the US, where she studied palliative care and graduated from Dartmouth. In America, she became involved with the work of hospices. Glinka later participated in the work of the First Moscow Hospice, after which the family moved to Ukraine for two years. In 1999, she founded the first hospice in Kiev.
In 2007, Glinka founded the ‘Fair Help’ fund in Moscow, which provides financial support and medical care to cancer patients, underprivileged families, the homeless, and others in need.
Last year, Dr. Liza organized an evacuation of children with heart conditions who were in need of urgent medical help, from Donbass to Russian hospitals. Parents and doctors told RT that due to the humanitarian crisis, it was impossible to treat them locally.
Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave out state awards for outstanding achievements in charity and human rights activities. Glinka was the winner of the first award, saying she would soon travel to Syria.
“We never know whether we come back alive, because the war – is hell on earth, and I know what I’m talking about. But we are confident that goodness, compassion and mercy are stronger than any weapon,” Glinka said, receiving the award.
Human rights activist Lyudmila Alexeyeva, founding member of the Moscow Helsinki Watch Group, said Glinka’s death was a huge loss.
“She was a saint, had enough strength for everyone, and was ready to help both the homeless and children,” Alexeyeva told TASS.
“It’s hard to speak about her, this is a huge loss, people like Dr. Liza are born once in a thousand years,” the human rights activist added. According to Alekseeva, Glinka was carrying a large amount of humanitarian aid to Syria.
Former human rights envoy Vladimir Lukin told TASS he was shocked by the tragedy.
“I am shocked. She was a wonderful person, she has done a lot of good things,” he said.
Those who never met Dr. Liza have also been deeply saddened by the tragic news.
“Eternal Memory # doktorLiza! Thank you for helping our children,” Aleksey Dyatlov wrote on Twitter.
“A human with a capital H, and a woman of action! Will never forget! Everlasting memory!” Aleksey Chenskykh wrote.
“Why is it that the best are the first to leave,” Nikita Kuznetsov asked.
People have been bringing flowers and candles to the office of the ‘Fair Help’ fund in Moscow.
“She was a miracle. She did things that most people thought were impossible to do. But that’s exactly what Elizaveta was all about. She worried about her colleagues to the point where she preferred to travel to hot spots herself,” Lana Zhurkina, Dr. Liza’s former colleague, told Life.ru.
A young mother in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, whose child Elizaveta Glinka helped when it suffered a serious disease, shared her sorrow with journalists.
“My daughter was diagnosed with congenital heart defect, she had to be urgently operated on. We met her [Glinka] in Donetsk – she sent us to St. Petersburg, where the child was successfully operated on, on the second day of [its] life.”
“This is a terrible tragedy, she has helped so many children, so many adults, and provided hope and faith,” the woman said.
A Russian Defense Ministry medical facility is to be named after the renowned humanitarian activist, Deputy Minister of Defense Ruslan Tsalikov told journalists.
“The humanitarian cargo of the ‘Fair Help’ fund was sent by another aircraft. It is already in the airport of Khmeimim, and of course we will finish Elizaveta Glinka’s job,” Tsalikov added.
Meanwhile the head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, said that a children’s clinic in Grozny has been named after humanitarian activist Elizaveta Glinka.
“Dr. Liza devoted herself to the most noble cause – saving children,” Kadyrov wrote on Instagram. “She had a brilliant medical training and could have worked in some clinic, but she chose the hard path of helping those, who could not get help from elsewhere.”
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has given an order to rename the republic’s main children’s hospital after famous Russian doctor and charity activist Elizaveta Glinka, also known as Doctor Liza, who died in the plane crash off Sochi’s coast on Sunday.
“I have decided to name the republic’s Children’s Clinical Hospital in Grozny after Elizaveta Petrovna [Glinka]. [Head of the Alexandrov Ensemble] Valery Mikhailovich [Khalilov] has been posthumously awarded the Chechen Republic’s medal for merit. I am confident that the names of these great people will forever remain in Russia’s history,” Kadyrov wrote on his Instagram page.
He wrote that Elizaveta Glinka had dedicated herself to the most noble of all causes – saving children in places of war and conflict – and will forever remain in people’s memory because of that. He added that the death of the members of the Aleksandrov Ensemble was a tragic loss, as they have inspired Russia’s military to heroic deeds for many years.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has ordered that one of Russia’s military hospitals be named after Elizaveta Glinka, the Defense Ministry’s press service reported on Monday. In the same statement, the Russian military promised to complete the philanthropist’s mission and pass on the aid that she had wanted to personally deliver to the hospital in Latakia, Syria. In fact, the aid has already arrived at the Russian Air Force base in Khmeimim on another flight.
The minister also ordered that the Moscow School of Music be named Valery Khalilov, the press service reported.
The Tu-154 airliner belonging to the Russian Defense Ministry crashed into sea off the coast near Sochi in the early hours of Sunday morning, killing 84 passengers and eight crew members. The passengers included 68 performers from the AleksandrovEnsemble, a famous Russian military orchestra and choir, including its director and conductor Valery Khalilov and nine journalists from three Russian TV channels.
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Elizaveta Glinka, often known in Russia by her nickname ‘Doctor Liza’, also died in the crash. Glinka was known as a selfless philanthropist, the founder of the first hospices in Russia and Ukraine, and the head of the NGO ‘Fair Help,’ which provides financial support and medical care to cancer patients, underprivileged families, the homeless, and others in need.
In 2015, Glinka organized the evacuation of many sick children to Russian hospitals from the unrecognized republics in Donbass.
Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin presented Glinka with the state’s top award for the year for her outstanding achievements in charity and human rights activities. At the ceremony, she promised that she would soon travel to Syria.
In this documentary, the authors demonstrate how falsification, information war, confidence tricks, financial pyramids and other unsavoury behaviour aimed to deceive the people works. I translated the first 10 minutes of the video, which would be of interest to an international viewer.
UPDATE 2022: The original untranslated video was published here: Сети обмана. Фальшивая реальность, but is no longer available after YouTube “freedomofspeeched” the channel of the Vesti News.
This is a dispassionate chronological look at the history of Galicia and Malorossia, and how those Russian lands were being gradually turned into Ukraine. The film presents a trove of documents, citations, documentary footage and gives it all to the viewer to draw own conclusions. The documentary also takes an introspective look at where Russia went wrong with its handling of the budding extreme nationalism in those lands at the turn of the 19th-20th century, and introspection is a good sign – a nation, which does not view itself as exceptional, which has the capacity to understand its mistakes, has a hope for the future…
UPDATE 13.03.2020: YouTube has globally censored up to a 1000 Russian-originating channels, including those aimed at only the Russian audience, where the video was hosted.
UPDATE 13.03:2022: One should also watch two documentaries from Oliver Stone: a 2016 Ukraine on Fire and 2019 Revealing Ukraine, which pick up the thread of Andrei Medvedev’s documentary.
The formatted subtitle file in ASS format can be downloaded separately. Full text of the script is below the video frame.
UPDATE 14.03.2022: All YouTube-related materials have been moved to the bottom of this post.
