I've known my guys my whole life, Alexander said, referring to his BARS unit and the local men with whom he volunteered. Rescuing them from anonymity is the other. Experts said that coverage of volunteer battalions has also been used by the Kremlins propaganda machine to create the impression that ordinary Russians are willing to fight and die in Ukraine. "It was the main event of their lives, I think." When they were unable to trace his family, the group put out an appeal on the evening news. Check - Russian war diggers YouTube statistics and Real-Time subscriber count. It does matter who has done it. However, that explanation is not enough as to why the battlefields were not cleared and the dead no identified and given at least proper burials. Australia. 9.8K subscribers in the russiawarinukraine community. Each dug up soldier is photographed as well as their location recorded and the information entered into a digital database. "The soldier had a family, he had children, he fell in love," says Ilya. This is the culmination of months of work by the volunteers. Being a volunteer body hunter has its dangers, too. Near the banks of the River Neva, close to the mass grave found by diggers, a Russian Orthodox priest chants prayers as he walks around the rows of bright red coffins laid out on the grass. "They actively planted new trees on the battlefield - they ploughed furrows and put the trees exactly in the places where the unburied soldiers were lying," Marina says. When we cleaned away some clumps of earth from the roots we saw two hands tangled up in them. The soldier had a family, he had children, he fell in love. On the battlefield in Ukraine, volunteers fight alongside regular soldiers, men drafted during the Kremlins partial mobilization announced in September and Wagner Group mercenaries. "We just had to come to this reburial service to visit the place where he died and accompany him to his final resting place.". We just had to come to this reburial service to visit the place where he died and accompany him to his final resting place.. The incident was just one of the most recent examples of violence . The question is, how could the workers go through and plough through a land with a tractor when they could visibly see it littered with the bodies of the dead, unburied soldiers? Four layers of people one on top of the other, Olga recalls as she sits by the campfire. This is nowhere remotely close to Bakhmut. Based on the information they gathered from the archives, the diggers found out Kustov was one of Stalins commanders tasked in leading his well-knownshtrafbats,a unit made up of deserters and prisoners. Please select the Tab Content in the Widget Settings. A bit further away, I found a Soviet helmet. Near River Nevas banks and close to the mass grave the diggers found, a Russian Orthodox priest says prayers while walking around the bright red coffins placed on the grass as the relatives -children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren of the identified soldiers the diggers have unearthed watched, some openly shedding their tears. Brought to you by the Premier Content Network. Report rulebreaking comments for moderator review. Each soldier is photographed and their location is recorded and entered into a digital database. He was one of the soldiers buried in the mass grave as the diggers found his ID tag in the location. During business in the House, Thursday, Matero . "The more data we can collect from the spot, the better the chance we have to identify a soldier," says Alexander Konoplov, the leader of the Exploration group. He told The Moscow Times from his hospital bed that 72 of the 98 soldiers in his unit were killed in the incident. Next Post: Winter Arctic Cruise of USS Skate (SSN-578), 1959. Russia said on Friday its forces had wrested control of the war-scarred town of Soledar in east Ukraine, its first claim of victory in months of battlefield setbacks, although Ukraine said fierce . There are around 300 volunteer groups in Russia searching for similar grave sites. Website production by Catherine Wynne. We are the ones who made him unknown.". Every spring, summer and autumn I get this strange sort of yearning inside me to go and look for the soldiers. Many of their bodies were never found. "My mother remarried some years later and everyone told me to call my stepfather Daddy. So we think the whole soldier was underneath the roots and the trees were growing on top of him, Marina claims. The soldiers may have been thrown into the pit by their comrades or local villagers as a hasty form of burial, or even by the German Army, anxious to prevent an epidemic among its troops. "Black Diggers" Dig Up, Repair, and Sell WWII Weapons Featured 02/09/2012 Groups in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus operate around areas where firece battles were fought in WWII digging up and selling long ago dropped weapons. Russias newly created 3rd Army Corps, for example, was made up of volunteers and given modern equipment before reportedly being. Most terrifying Heavy Weapons of the US Military in the Future ( Video ), The End of a Superpower The Collapse of the Soviet Union, Boiling and Burning Alive: A Medieval Punishment of Searing Pain, Death by Pressing and Crushing: A Medieval Punishment Youd Want to Avoid, 65 Medieval Facts, Beasts, Torture Methods, Jobs & MORE! If one crouches down in the woods near Lyuban, streaks of trenches can be made out clearly in the earth. Olga Ivshina walks slowly and carefully through the pine trees, the beeps of her metal detector punctuating the quiet of the forest. Crossing Continents is broadcast on Thursdays at 11:00GMT. "It has become the meaning of our lives. There was little time in the heat of battle to bury the dead, says Valery Kudinsky, the defence ministry official responsible for war graves. or Best Offer. I am not surprised that Peter Schumann and the Bread and Puppet Theater cannot bring themselves to blame the obscene genocidal Russian attempt to destroy Ukraine as a nation . I've recently found myself watching the 'Russian war diggers' Youtube channel. By Julia Malunga, 6th May 2022. RaRe. Russia was one, if not the country with the most casualties during WWII. What are the most Expensive Wars in the U.S. History? Two civilians. In Moscow an eternal flame burns at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the shadow of the Kremlin Wall, but for the diggers, the best way to honour those who lost their lives is to give them back their identities. WWII 159,726 views Jul 14, 2016 Almost 30 million Russians lost their lives in World War. According to an independent media site in Russia, they reported on Friday, December 14 that Russia is digging in for the long haul in occupied areas of Ukraine. Many countries were scarred by World War Two, but none suffered as many losses as the Soviet Union. Post navigation. There are no official figures for the numbers of Russian volunteers currently in Ukraine, but they include tens of thousands of men fighting in regional battalions raised by local authorities and given names like Tiger, units of Cossacks and Russias so-called Special Combat Army Reserve. Tracing a soldiers family can also take years, even decades, to do especially if the said family has moved elsewhere after WWII. From the archives, the diggers worked out that Kustov had been the commander of one of Stalin's notorious shtrafbats, a battalion made up of prisoners and deserters. 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It was 1983, I was 40km from Leningrad and there lay the remains of a soldier who hadn't been buried. Joined in early 1918 as wireless operator, but did not see action. On January 2, a crowd wielding batons descended on a Catholic church in a village in central India. Volunteer battalions in particular BARS units have been heavily promoted by, Glory Hunters or Gold Diggers? The diggers found their grandfather's ID tag in the mass grave. Tatiana and Lyudmilas elderly mother was shocked when she heard his name, Alexander Golik, being announced; the family had been left desolate because of his disappearance. But tracing a soldier's family can take years - on occasions more than a decade - especially if the family moved after the war. It's those one-to-one connections, particularly with refugees, that May has sought with Ukrainians as a way to help the country in the midst of war. The remains are decomposing and it is getting harder to find the bones, ID tags and army kit.. She recently unearthed a helmet and in order to find its owner, the team had to uproot two nearby trees. , , , . The History Channel for an in-depth view of the Past, Here is another find by Russian War Diggers. Recently, she was able to unearth a helmet and in order for them to find its wearer, the team had to pull out two trees nearby. But it could be a life's work - or more. Free shipping. The less information there is. Reportedly, there have been other diggers from different groups who have lost their lives while in volunteering mission elsewhere in Russia. One eminent expert described the way the show was made as 'a . "Sometimes we find messages with the soldier's name," says Alexander. Four layers of people one on top of the other," says Olga, as she sits by the campfire. But when he turns it upside down in his hand, what comes out of it is not a roll of paper, but a trickle of brown liquid. To be appointed to such post, one needed to be a staunch communist and one of the few officers Stalin trusted. The Associated Press. 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The relics we found were Startling! The standing belief about this tradition was that if the family loaned him a few coins, he certainly would come home to repay the money. Sometimes they find old coins with the soldiers, given to them by their families. . While ideology likely is one motivation for these soldiers, incentives such as high salaries, bonuses and opportunities for promotion and medals as well as pressure from families are also believed to play a major role. "A bit further away, I found a Soviet helmet. One month later, he was badly injured by artillery fire near the Ukrainian village of Makiivka amid intense fighting in the east of the country. Brought to you by the Premier Content Network, The Great War Documentary Series (2010), The Great War Documentary Series (1964), The First World War (2003) Documentary Series, World War 2: The Complete History Documentary Series (2000), The Great War (Soviet Storm ) Documentary Series (2010), The World at War Documentary Series (19731974), Battlefront Documentary Documentary Series (2001), Victory at Sea Documentary Series (1952), Apocalypse: The Second World War Documentary Series (2009), Regimental Stories Documentary TV Series (2011), Elizabeth I, The Virgin Queen Documentary Series, Royal Marines Behind the Lines Documentary TV Series (1985), Britains Bloody Crown Documentary Series (2016), Britains Bloodiest Dynasty Documentary Series (2014), King Henry VIII: Man, Monarch, Monster Documentary Series, Britains Biggest Warship Documentary Series (2018), Wings Over Vietnam: Documentary Series The Missions (1988), The World Wars Documentary Series (2014), Greatest Tank Battles Documentary Series (2010), Churchills Bodyguard Documentary Series (2005), Andrew Marrs History of the World Documentary Series (2012), Russias Lost Princesses Documentary Series (2014), Walking Through History Documentary Series (2013), Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire Documentary Series (2006), Royal Secrets Documentary Series ( 1996 ), Finnish Troops in Afghanistan Documentary, Russian War Diggers : The Germans Hurriedly threw their Equipment in the River, Russia-Ukraine war: 16 people including Ukraines Interior Minister killed in Kyiv chopper crash, Ukraine. Our country allowed volunteers to participate in hostilities for the first time, Sergei Fomchenko, a military commander who fought in Ukraine in 2014 and set up the high-profile BARS 13 unit earlier this year, said in August. In an area nearby, MarinaKoutchinskaya bends on her knees and searches through the mud. Exploration is one of 600 groups of diggers from all over Russia who have found and reburied a total of 500,000 soldiers so far. This looked like the best place for this topic. "Everything seems so pointless - even my job as a journalist - and sometimes I think, 'What am I doing?' This work connects us to our past. Soldiers are regularly discovered with their grenades still in their backpacks and artillery shells can be seen sticking out of the trees. Diggers discovered a mass grave in the area last summer. Please select the Tab Content in the Widget Settings. She views her volunteering as a digger a moral compass at times. There will definitely be work for our grandchildren," says Marina. Russias newly created 3rd Army Corps, for example, was made up of volunteers and given modern equipment before reportedly being deployed to eastern Ukraine in August in an attempt to stop successful advances by the Ukrainian army. A number of volunteer fighters have described problems or delays with payments and other benefits and some said they did not know with whom they had signed contracts. They are still lying where they fell. The History Channel for an in-depth view of the Past. The relics we found were Startling! Nevskaya Dubrovka, on the banks of the River Neva, was the scene of one of the bloodiest campaigns of the Leningrad siege. President Hakainde Hichilema with new Russian Ambassador to Zambia Azim Yarakhmedov shortly after receiving his credentials at State House in Lusaka on May 5, 2022 - Picture by Tenson Mkhala. They are part of a group called Exploration who have travelled for 24 hours in a cramped army truck to get to this forest near St Petersburg. @russianwardiggers3815 2.64K subscribers Subscribe Home Videos Playlists Community Channels About Videos Play all 27:02 Found incredible german stuf, Searching WW2 relics 2.6K views1 year ago 23:27. "The principles are very clear, we do not support war in any way as government. The workers had endured far worse horrors, he says. The diggers now believe that some were deliberately concealed. "My heart pulls me to do this work.". It was being used as an air raid shelter when an air strike killed up to 600. But attempts to take the city by storm fell through, so Hitler decided to starve it into surrender. Here, the teams technician,Rafik Salakhiev, employs digital imaging and ultraviolet light to bring faded pencil marks to light. 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