Close Relations (2016) Movie Script

1
I never thought I
would make this film.
This is where I was born.
I left to study in Moscow, which
was then still the capital of the union.
After I graduated, I
stayed in Moscow.
And after the collapse of the
USSR I was made a citizen of Russia.
Ukraine and my home-town
Lvov became a foreign land to me.
After the Maidan
victory in spring 2014
Russia annexed the
Crimea, and war was in the air.
I went to visit my mother in Lviv
just before the presidential election.
Business is stagnant,
rising unemployment,
frozen wages, destitution,
a collapsing economy.
This is the
situation of the day.
Only an open-door policy
will attract investment
into industry and agriculture.
This will give Ukraine
new well-paid jobs
on a large scale.
Successful business, working enterprises,
a stable hryvna and high wages:
This is the precondition of economic
prosperity in a united country.
Michail Dobkin.
A united country.
Ukraine needs a strong,
efficient and modern army.
I will abolish
conscription forever.
The army will ensure the security
and protection of our people.
This is why I am
running for president.
We have to bring peace back
to Ukraine once and for all.
How can we do this?
One way is to become a full
member of the democratic world
by joining the EU and NATO.
I haven't always voted, Vitaly.
This time, I will go at 8am.
All the misfortunes in
Ukraine will be because of you.
Your vote will not be enough.
Right, I know that.
But this is such
a terrible time,
we need some kind of order.
But what is order?
What is order?
Well, I'm not going to
talk about the economy
But I wish there would
be an end to the killing.
When in Russia people
were dying in Chechnya,
here it was, thank God
People used to say it was...
"quiet out here in the sticks".
How should I put it?
People were not
afraid to go outside.
While yesterday they said there
was shooting around Makeyevka.
I wish there were no deaths.
How can they be
pacified in Donbas?
By fighting only.
But, Vitaly
If they are fighting in Donbas,
why should people from
Western Ukraine die?
I don't know, Vitaly. I
don't want to go into it, but...
Every answer prompts
another question.
It's all very complicated.
Or Ukraine won't exist anymore.
There will be two Ukraines.
What do you think?
Why did you turn up in the
morning? Let me fry the pancakes.
The tall girl with the
plait is my mother
with her sisters and
my great grandmother.
My mother was born in Lviv
and has lived there for all her life.
Lyuda and Tamara, in
the centre, also live in Lviv.
Natasha, on the
left, is in the Crimea.
These are my
Ukrainian relatives.
CLOSE RELATIONS
All the female line of our
family are, in fact, Ukrainian.
Who?
My mother, your
grandma, was Ukrainian.
Grandma Sonya was
a Pole from Lithuania.
- Your grandma, that is.
- Wait!
If great-grandmother
was a Pole from Lithuania,
how my grandmother
became Ukrainian?
- Her passport said she was Ukrainian.
- I'm not asking about her passport.
She didn't speak either
Polish, or Lithuanian.
Neither did Aunt
Lyuba or Aunt Katya.
They are all registered
as Ukrainians.
I'm not asking how
they were registered
Great-grandma Sonya was
from Vilnius, a Lithuanian Pole.
She married a Manskiy.
Manskiy had a degree and
he was a railway employee.
He even owned
a carriage in Yalta!
But he was a gambler!
Grandma ran away from
him with their three daughters.
Right.
But when did the Lithuanian
Poles become Ukrainian?
No, great-grandma
died as a Pole.
- Which grandmother?
- Sonya.
- And her daughter Galya?
- She was Ukrainian.
- What a circus!
- Why?
What is there to explain?
Why are you surprised at what
happens in our incredible country?
Aunt Lyuba is Ukrainian
too. And aunt Katya.
How had Lithuanian
Poles become Ukrainians?
They could have become
They had been registered
as such, that's all.
So we don't have a
drop of Ukrainian blood?
Well, it seems so.
Are you registered as
Russian or Ukrainian?
When I lived in Lviv, this
question was never raised.
Lviv had always been a
European, multinational city,
not only of Ukraine, but
of the whole Soviet Union.
In the Soviet myths
it was the centre of
Bandera-Ukrainian national resistance.
But during my 18 years in Lviv,
I never met a single
Bandera supporter.
But all this is in the past.
The present is May 2014.
Crimea is already "ours".
The Crimean model has
been launched in Donetsk,
and across all
south-eastern Ukraine.
After the victory of Maidan and
Yanukovich's flight to Russia,
Ukraine is preparing to elect a
new president and start over again.
But nobody knows that this will be
the hardest year in Ukraine's history
since the end of World War II.
That's what I told her: Poroshenko
is coming for the elections.
She says: I have no
So that's about
everything, Lyuda.
Let's keep in touch. Bye bye.
No pains, I seem to feel okay.
My feet hurt a lot
I try to go out only once a day.
[Speaking Ukrainian] The Donetsk
separatists continue the information war.
This morning five guerillas of the
so-called Donetsk People's Republic
broke into the New
Light printing-office
in order to stop the anti-separatist
special issue from going out.
However, almost all the copies
had already been delivered.
Only a small number were
withheld from circulation.
In the afternoon my mother,
for the first time in many years,
decided to do her
duty as a citizen
and vote for the new president.
At the voting station
I was surprised to hear my
mom speaking Ukrainian.
[Speaking Ukrainian] They
said... I live at 301 Gorodetskaya.
Voting takes place
at Ulitsa Poltavi.
I'm not at the right place?
There you are, a devoted voter.
I've always voted here,
but now they have changed
the station - 301 Gorodetskaya.
This is 305 Gorodetskaya.
Two stops away on the bus.
- Will you go?
- I'd just leave it really.
- What do you want to do?
- I'd just leave it.
But it's up to you. If
you need me to, let's go.
Or let's not. Do you need me to?
- Do you need to?
- Not really.
I've already got
het up. Let's not go.
You have some free time.
That's it. I'm
going to the shop.
[Speaking Ukrainian] First of all
I'd like to express my gratitude.
Gratitude to the Ukrainian people
who showed a record turn-out.
A huge number of people
went to the polling-stations today.
There has never been a
turn-out like it in Ukraine.
Both in the country
and beyond it.
In summer I went to
Odessa, in southern Ukraine,
to see my sister Alyona.
She is a housewife
and mother of two sons.
The eldest is already
almost of conscription age.
Her husband Igor is a
businessman and supports the family.
Lyosha, where are you?
Listen, I want to see you.
Turn back from the dolphinarium
and go towards the
passenger terminal.
A bit further on there
is a small sailboat.
Go along there.
I want to see how you
look from my window.
Look, a bit to the left,
along the port-side...
There's a motorboat going.
That's great. Give me a wave!
Keep smiling!
I thought you'd look much bigger.
But you're actually very small.
Great. Have a nice day, Lyosha.
Now he'll make a turn.
I remember once on May
9, when I was very small
It's our family tradition to leave
flowers at the Unknown Sailor memorial.
I was only little, but I
remember that moment well.
Dad pointed out a sailboat in the
distance. 'Look Valera, a sailboat!'
Wow! A sailboat! So beautiful.
I couldn't even dream
of having a yacht then.
Then when I was about five...
Never mind. In 2008.
Dad said, 'We're
buying a yacht!'
We went to see it. I looked at
it and thought: how beautiful!
Then I could only look at it,
but now I can actually feel it!
And this is my
sister's future flat.
They were supposed to
move in at least a year ago.
But the builders haven't stepped
foot in here for over a year.
After Maidan and
the president's flight
Igor's business has gone slack:
he dealt with government contracts.
So Ukraine ended up in
debt to many of my relatives.
The exchange rate of Hryvnia is
12. In all it comes to four million.
Dollars.
We worked in the flood
period, and they didn't pay.
The country ran out of money.
But by the summer of
2014 hope glimmered again.
- Hi!
- Hello!
So we're picking
up where we left off.
I'm just inspecting on site.
Your plasterboard is still here.
I've no idea where to put it, though.
We just have to
sort out this place.
What are the rates, given
the state of the country?
- Tariffs?
- So far I'm not sure what to do.
From 40 to 45 dollars apiece...
- Irrespective of whatever, right?
- Right. But here one can
Depending on the warfare.
- Why warfare?
- I'm just asking...
- There's no warfare here. - No, there isn't.
- And I hope there won't be any.
I don't think they'll
bomb Odessa.
We see it like this here: Why
fight, when it's much better to work?
It's better to negotiate.
The Black Sea, the port
and the Odessa humour
with its Jewish nuances
have always bred
an air of leisure,
celebrated by great
writers and poets,
who, by the way,
predominantly wrote in Russian,
Even now Odessa looks the same,
in spite of the trouble on the streets,
with dozens of people burnt alive.
And thousands have already died
in the war with the Ukrainian
army, which began in Donbas
Naturally, millions of refugees
have poured in from Donbas.
And today Igor's mother
took in her sister from Donetsk
where secession from Ukraine
had already been declared.
Valentina insisted we
didn't call her a refugee.
In fact, after staying
with her sister for a while,
she would return to the
independent Donetsk republic.
If we are from Donbas,
we are stigmatized.
I'm a terrorist, a sadist,
a raider, whoever.
Disinformation like that.
Other Ukrainians associate
Donbas with bandits.
'How can you live
there?' they ask.
This shocks us.
We are miners.
Dad was a miner
for over 40 years.
He's almost 90 now.
My two sisters'
husbands are also miners.
Her husband is a miner.
My brother is a miner.
I spent 25 to 35
dollars on phone calls.
My daughter helps me a bit.
I hide the bills.
She says: Mom, cut it
down at least to 20 dollars.
You see what's going on?
If the scrolling text says:
Valyushka from Makeyevka
My mother and sister, my
nearest and dearest are there!
Or if it says there was
shooting at a bus stop,
a woman was killed
and her child hospitalized,
of course I start calling right
away: Valyushka, stay at home!
Natasha, can it be...
Don't worry, that's a
cracker. That's not a moth.
It's time we ate them all.
Dad had sent us a sack by
train before all this started.
They're old, but they
make everything by hand.
I soak them in hot water
overnight, then we drink the stuff.
Our home in Makeyevka is only
20 minutes away from Donetsk.
Those nearest have been
affected. Your friend says:
'I'm leaving for the children's sake,
they came to see my husband at work.'
But there's fear, panic,
that it could happen to you.
- But people are evacuating.
- Why? What for?
People lock their flats,
abandon their houses, their work.
Is all this for our sake?
It's a fight for power. A
power vacuum is always filled.
A power structure that
comes to distribute resources.
Why should people die? What for?
The rebels are pushed back,
they escape to residential areas
and think they
will not be bombed.
Some rebels have
already formed squadrons.
- They are paid, evidently.
- They don't go to work any more.
Many men left my husband's mine.
Miners don't earn much, but a
soldier gets around 1,200 dollars.
And the commanding officer
more than 4,000 dollars
While in the National
Guard Who are they?
And they shoot.
They attack the locals,
who are helpless.
An army man will find
immediately find cover.
A regular guy was standing. Fishing.
And he was killed. Blown to pieces.
Unlike the rebel miners, my
sister's son will have no choice.
He is close to conscription age,
and will have to join the army,
whatever his own views may be.
Five of our soldiers have
been wounded today.
The situation near the state
borders remains complicated.
I'm for a united
Ukraine. No. For sure.
Why "no"?
No one has asked you
anything yet but you say 'No'.
No, I thought, maybe
federalization? No.
This is wrong. This
shouldn't happen.
What are you prepared
to do to prevent it?
To prove myself
in a various ways.
Like, doing as your mother says.
No, what's mum
got to do with this?
Are you ready to do anything concrete
for the sake of a united Ukraine?
The united Ukraine?
I won't join the
army, that's for sure.
What do you mean
by that, Valera?
- You'd let me join?
- What do you mean let you?
- What if I joined?
- You won't, dad.
You'd join the army with a small
kid, with two sons and a wife?
You won't join
mum won't let you.
No, if he goes,
he'll go on his own.
Mom just won't let you.
And you will not let me, as
your son. Am I wrong, dad?
I don't think the
war will last long.
I think it will all be
over in a month or two.
It can't go on forever.
Five years? No way!
Five years means at least
ten people killed every day.
- Right.
- What's right about it?
The Kurds have been at
war in Turkey for 30 years.
For 30 years. In Kurdistan.
The Turkish army isn't able
to take part of its territory.
The Kurds have been
fighting there for 30 years.
How do Kurds differ
from Lugansk or Donetsk?
They'll take the area, and
you'll be fighting for 30 years.
And if Russia steps
in and helps Easily!
I don't think so, Vitaly. No one
is considering this option here.
It's just a matter of time. In a
month or two it will start easing.
You ask me these questions...
Five years? A year? Two?
In a month or two it will
all be over. You'll see.
Not in a month, but
in two months for sure.
By winter it will all be over.
Now it's warm, so
they are fighting.
When it gets cold, what will
they do without light, gas, heating?
They'll scatter like rats.
I can even tell you the date:
on November 25,
2014 it will end.
Call me on the 25th
to say happy birthday.
Some plans, aren't they?
You've perplexed me.
So by the New Year
the flat must be finished.
And the war too!
The war must finish even sooner!
The flat is in your
hands, while the war
Actually, the war
is also in our hands.
Just so you know, on Monday we're
sending project developers to Donetsk,
to estimate the renovation work
for destroyed areas.
Peacetime life begins.
[Speaking Ukrainian] Bodies of 181
Boeing-777 passengers are found.
The plane was shot down over the
separatist controlled Donetsk region.
The search for other
bodies is ongoing.
298 people were on
board. None survived.
Passengers of the flight from
Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur
included Australians,
Malaysians, Brits...
In the autumn I
went back to Lviv.
Apart from mom, many
of my relatives live here.
Aunt Lyuda, for example.
She worked for the state her whole
life and earned only her pension.
She did not have a
family and children
and now she lives with
her third and favourite dog.
On the radio they said a local woman
had been out looking for stray dogs
She brought them all to her flat.
A two room flat, and fourteen dogs.
She didn't take them out for walks. They
did all their business right in the flat.
The neighbours called the
services, who took all the dogs away.
Every morning on
the radio they said:
Please take one of the dogs,
otherwise they will be put down.
After hearing this a few times,
I went there and took this one.
You quite rightly asked
about preparations for winter.
Do you understand what
you are talking about?
There are two viewpoints
now. Before there was only one.
I didn't know otherwise then.
I was the product of my time.
Capitalism was stagnating.
There was a girl at the plant,
she said life was good in the West.
I tried to prove to her that nowhere
was better than the Soviet Union.
So back then, I might've
gone with flowers.
I thought the Union was
liberating Czechoslovakia.
Aunt Gala said, 'Karel Gott ran
off! He was my favorite singer!'
The Czech nightingale,
as she called him, ran off.
All this was accepted
at face value.
I didn't know anything else.
I believed what they
said. At school, wherever.
Now I make my own mind up.
Back then there was
just the Soviet Union.
Everything was the same,
nobody could imagine a different life.
Not me, at least. Those who had
more relatives in the countryside
They knew something else.
Like that the Bandera followers
were not altogether bad.
But I was the
product of the epoch.
When Lenin's statue was toppled,
I was going home from work.
Lenin's toppled! It was
a shock to me back then.
I was shocked back then when
they removed Lenin's statue.
Everything was
revealed very gradually.
It was a long process, honestly.
I judge it from myself.
And from how my mother
and father called names.
- "You're Banderovite face!
- "And you're Moskalka!"
I thought this was all bad.
But now everything is different.
Alya, shut up!
Now even when I watch Soviet
films, which once felt so dear to me
Now I watch them...
Especially "17
Moments of Spring".
It seemed so congenial before.
Now I watch them and think of
how they were deceiving everyone.
They spoiled everything,
even our own history.
So now I can't have warm feelings
towards what I cared about before.
I used to love Moscow very much,
I loved the theatres
and all the actors,
but now it's different,
even with the same actors.
This is even painful,
when people who used to be...
an example for you
Take the director
and filmstar Mikhalkov.
I have a huge poster of him. It
used to be on the wall over the table.
We used to drink coffee here
and Mikhalkov was always with us.
We'd think, what a man!
Handsome and talented!
And then I looked at him
and thought: you slimebag!
I rolled it up and put
it with the recycling.
Oh, look, how handsome he is!
Once Vovka came round and
waved his hand for some reason.
I thought I'll kill
him if he tears it.
The sofa was here, the table was
here, and Mikhalkov was over here.
So handsome. I brought
it over from Moscow.
Around 1990 it was.
I kept it for so
many years. Terrible.
So you didn't recycle it?
Not yet, I'm
collecting waste paper.
I won't go there with 50 grams.
I'll go when I have around 5kg.
I went quite recently, you see. But
the newspapers are piling up again.
When they get to the end
of the shelf, I'll weigh them.
If it comes to 5kg, I'll take
them. So his time is coming.
Praise the heroes!
This is Vova, Lyuda's brother.
That makes him my uncle,
even though he's only
nine months older than me
Vova is the most stalwart
Ukrainian in our family.
He married Galya, a real
Ukrainian from the countryside.
But they talk and even quarrel
each in their own mother-tongue.
Now they live in the city, but on
weekends they go to the country
to Galya's parents
half-deserted house to grow food.
For many years already,
on weekdays Vova works
as a taxi-driver in Lviv.
[Speaking Ukrainian]
That is my father in the army.
- This is my father in the army.
- He was in the flying unit.
It's say there, 'To fly higher.'
If he hadn't met aunt
Anya and left the village,
he'd have been a
colonel, probably.
We have the suitcase which
he brought back from the army.
There it is.
Have a look, there could be
something interesting written there.
Here is the suitcase. We've
had it for so many years.
And out there is his bowl.
It was given to them
as a wedding present.
These wedding presents!
Just think, what they
used to give as gifts.
What were you given
for your wedding?
- Who is 'you'?
- You and Galya.
Dough.
You think I remember?
Ask me something easier.
You guys, you're the old
generation, you know a bit more.
I'm still young, I
live for the day...
You think I'm stupid? I'm at work,
while you sit here like gentlefolk!
Roosters, turkeys.
- Some juice?
- No, thanks.
Goodness, poor kid.
I love coming here.
I didn't use to like it. Now
I come here sometimes.
This is my land,
my private property.
I have all the documents,
all papers. Everything.
This is mine, my own.
So I have to come here occasionally
and see what's going on here.
Sometimes I do work here.
Maybe this will change.
There's no way to tell.
Circumstances can
change very abruptly.
I wouldn't like to live
in the Soviet Union.
I think this is my epoch.
People have got used
to everything, I guess.
They are probably
very short-sighted.
They think if there's cheap
bread and sausages on sale,
then what else do you need?
That's why they want stability,
when everything is cheap,
and there is work.
They are not
interested in Europe.
We are closer to Poland here, we
know life is cheaper and better there.
Here it's the opposite.
And in Donetsk they think
we don't need any of that.
We need only what
is Soviet or Soviet-like.
Sausage for 3 roubles per kilo.
Or vodka. I don't
know how much it was.
They have very primitive needs.
I did my homework at this
table. We also ate supper here.
I haven't sat at it for a long
time. Today is the first time.
40 years have passed.
See this floor?
In winter, for
holidays, at Christmas,
we used to bring in hay
and straw, to make it warmer.
We called this bringing
"diduh" into the house.
So on Christmas
January 6, 7, 8, 9
all until Epiphany,
there would be hay here.
The houses around were more
civilized, only this hut was different.
It's so old.
There are no boards
there, just the ground.
That's why mice get in so easily.
They don't have to gnaw anything.
They come in straight
from the ground.
This bed
Mind that the bedbugs
don't bite your ass here.
This bed You idiot!
Yarinka You are the idiot!
It's horrible...
Go and water the ficus, Yulya!
Goodness.
Those beds are so old.
See that wood? It's real wood.
There's no heating. We have frost
here and the weather is changeable.
But there's no effect on it.
So all this is still here.
All her life Galya has worked
in a Ukrainian dance company.
Now she is a costumier there.
Her daughter Yulya
now dances there.
As it turned out, my
aunt Tamara dances too.
Having devoted all her life to activities
of the Communist Party and trade-union,
she is now retired,
though she still works
in the registration office of a
dermatovenerologic dispensary.
She spends her free
time belly dancing.
Lviv is roughly divided into areas
of different periods of its statehood:
Austrian, the Polish luxe,
Stalin time and Khrushchev time.
The new houses of the Ukrainian
period are so far called just new builds.
Aunt Tamara lives
in a Polish house.
Her own ethnicity
is harder to define.
Her lineage from our
side is a total mess.
Her father, a Soviet
officer, was Russian.
However, ethnicity is not
stated in Ukrainian passports.
It's hard to tell how many ethnic
groups are living in one small flat.
Four generations of
Lviv citizens together:
her 80-year-old mother-in-law,
her retired husband Tolik,
a recovery worker for
the Chernobyl disaster,
her daughter Anya, a manicurist,
with her unemployed husband
and her grandson Zhenya
who is of conscription age.
And a cat into the bargain.
What's the news in Lviv?
They mostly just write
about the war now.
Or they draw
caricatures of Putin.
Always in the guise of Hitler,
with a moustache, and an
undercut - always like Hitler...
He behaves like him.
So what did you expect?
It's our land. We
were born here.
And we want to
go on living here.
But all the same...
To surrender to Putin?
Nothing has really changed:
The same clients, There
is still work, thank God.
But people talk
of only one thing.
We talk about it all the time:
the war, the guys who are
leaving, what we should do,
what was said there, and
what was agreed in the end.
And that we wish that
Putin croak, and so on.
Since this movement
has developed,
then we, residents of Ukraine,
want Ukraine to be Ukraine.
Why should we need
other people here?
Why should anyone
impose this alien state on us?
We've been living in our
own state for 20 years.
So we should also
build our own state.
There are no
'pure-blood' people here.
A flat nose, narrow eyes
- that's a true Russian!
Very many settlers came here
after the Second World War.
The Poles started leaving,
and many military people came.
They were passing through Lviv
and saw that the city was very beautiful.
Very many people came here
after the Second World War.
That's why the
people here are angry.
You can even understand them.
We didn't before, but
now we understand.
These people had
never had a homeland.
The city was Ukrainian only
in Bogdan Hmelnitsky's time.
The city was already built.
It was built by the new-Austrians.
Not Poles, but Austrians.
They shaped the history of Lviv.
All this beauty was created
mostly by the Austrians.
Austro-Hungarians were here,
and Lithuanians, and Poles.
You name them! The city
was like a revolving door.
It was a mix of people
here, not just Ukrainians.
People want some
kind of stability.
And then the Russians came.
As the Russian speaking
population we did not really sense this,
because our
language was Russian.
But when I entered the Komsomol,
I had to speak Ukrainian because
all the documents were in Ukrainian.
So what was I to do?
My Ukrainian was poor,
but I would write texts, take reports
in my hands and rattle them off.
The reports were
some 20 pages long!
For the communist party!
I'm a Ukrainian.
- One hundred percent.
- I'm Ukrainian.
So I support Ukraine whatever.
It doesn't matter how many
Ukrainians want to move to Russia.
The point is not ethnicity,
but who we want to live with.
Why should we
live with Russians?
Let them live on their
own, in their own country,
and us on our
own, in our country.
The Poles in their country
Look at the Poles they've
done well for themselves!
They used to be very poor.
They used to come
to Lviv and buy those...
They bought eggs.
Everything, you name it.
Eggs too, yes.
And we had those packets
of frozen bones for soup.
We didn't even look at
them, but they bought them
because they had nothing to eat.
And now our people go there.
They go there to buy those
packets of frozen bones.
The Western Ukraine
is still going strong.
It's only thanks to the West that
the Ukrainian mentality keeps up.
Where did all this
come from? From us.
It came from us.
At Maidan 90% of people
were from the Western Ukraine.
"Bandera followers!" they shouted.
What kind of Bandera followers?!
People just want a decent life.
Because we were the first
who saw how people live.
East and west Ukraine
were so very different.
Everybody was shouting
there: "Bandera supporters!"
What Bandera supporters?
Where are they?
What do these supporters do?
- We don't see or hear any Bandera supporters!
- Not in the least living in Lviv!
- All this is nonsense.
- This is propaganda.
They are whipping up tension.
On purpose. They tell fibs.
This is propaganda.
I don't know any
Bandera supporters.
The same happened in 1946.
Well, your grandson
will join the army.
And so? What kind
of a soldier will he be?
When he isn't able to do anything
and knows nothing about life?
- He will find out.
- With him it's just the computer.
He spends the whole day
in front of the computer.
When my sons went
to the army, I was for it.
At that time the army
taught boys something.
They came back
totally different.
But these...
These kids are good for nothing.
When my generation dies
off... well, it has already
When Tamara's generation
dies off, and then Anya's,
this generation will be just
nobodies. There will be nothing.
He is almost twenty.
I'm telling you, it's the
computer and nothing else.
He hasn't read a single book.
He's never been to the theatre.
Hey, what are you doing? Awful.
Go, go, go, go.
Why does he stay there?
The master of the house.
When he was a little
kid, we were good friends.
I also raised him, in fact.
Anya was raised by Lena Ivanovna.
But I was with him from his first days.
From when he was two, we
would spend the holidays together.
We were always
together before he was 12.
But after he turned
12, he rejected me.
He was too lazy to study.
He didn't understand about
the army, the war, and all that.
Now he understands.
He's seen videos on the internet
what happens out there, at war.
And he's got scared.
I told him see,
what how things are?
I think no mother would
wish to send away her son.
Even if she were
a great patriot.
What do children have to
do with this? I'll go, after all.
But you can't send
children to the war.
Twenty-year-old
children in particular.
There are thirty and
forty-year old guys.
Now it's got very scary.
Everyone understands
what's going on...
and what can happen.
And yes, there are funerals.
Some girls, my clients,
they bury their school friends.
How old are they 24, 25?
It's terrible.
The talk about the army
is just about the war.
Everyone is afraid of
being sent to the war zone.
We set up volunteer squadrons of
people who have never served in the army,
and of those who have served.
We collect money
for their uniforms,
people donate money to
build armoured vehicles.
You give everything
to fight for your country.
Can you imagine this?
Why did they die in Ilovaisk?
Because they opened the corridor,
and they were shot down, like animals.
- And how many people died there?
- Over a thousand, they say.
They also say, of course,
the numbers were hushed up...
They bury them in
groups of 300, unidentified.
They don't know...
The cannot identify...
Just imagine, you've lost your
son: you don't know where he is.
They're creating
the DNA database...
Who will be looking for them?
They've been buried, that's it.
This is what is terrible.
They were blown to pieces
there. And how many of them?
And how many have been
kidnapped? There are exchanges...
Yesterday they exchanged 60
of their soldiers for 40 of ours.
There are still
over 500 captive.
In the news they said:
one killed, two killed
You hear these numbers, my
God, and your hair stands on end.
And now, with this war...
Maybe everything
will be settled.
Our molfars say
by April it should...
Who are molfars? Molfars
am I saying it right?
They are our Carpathian
soothsayers. They are called molfars.
- Is that right, molfars?
- Yes, molfars.
They live in the
Carpathian mountains.
They hand down their knowledge
from generation to generation.
They can even stop a storm,
they can call for rain, or stop it.
And they sort of foretold...
that in April...
April or May...
We'll have to file this nail.
that it should end.
Now it must be defended
and peace must be
made for all and everyone.
And he is 18?
He'll be 20 in May.
Conscription age
was 18, then 20.
Now they've gone back to 18.
- Where did you hear that?
- On the radio.
Then he has to go.
- For a year and a half.
- Where to?
To the army. We should
go and discuss it with them.
We'll send him
straight to the war zone.
Not to the war
zone, but the army...
- Are you serious?
- Why not?
[Speaking Ukrainian]
Aren't you sorry?
Bossing everybody around...
Anka arrived with a client...
So how are you? You're ill?
So you are at home already?
All right, then on
Saturday at 4 p.m.
Most people here
say things like:
"Suppose they gave us Donbas
what the hell do we need it for?
No reason to die for it."
Aren't I right?
That's what they say?
We don't want to lose Crimea.
But they can take Donbas.
Russians didn't want
to lose Crimea either.
Captitalising on the
situation in Ukraine,
the Crimea and its residents
were joined to Russia,
including Tamara's sister
Natasha in Sevastopol.
From next year, 16
March will be a holiday.
89.5% of Sevastopol residents
went to the polls
on referendum day.
The overwhelming majority
voted for reunion with Russia.
That was Sevastopol
on March 16, 2014.
United and patriotic
as never before.
The events of February and
March added to the Russian lexicon.
Everybody knows now
what the 'Russian spring'
or 'polite people' mean.
The reunion
operation was unique:
not a single shot
or drop of blood.
They joked in social networks:
the Crimeans have moved to
Russia together with their peninsula.
I've been friends with a guy
in Ukraine for over 30 years.
He's a real Ukrainian. And
this topic has never come up.
Now with these political
issues, we avoided these too.
Then he said: "Your
Putin is a worm".
I said: "Stop. Or I'll use
the worst insults I know.
I don't know many, but I'll
tell you who Poroshenko is.
And the issue was closed.
Forever. Too dangerous a topic.
Because if we start Both
sides have their grudges.
My father's lineage
is purely Russian,
my mother's is mixed:
Polish, German, Ukrainian.
And then I've always
spoken Russian.
Only when Ukraine
became Ukraine,
we switched over
to this language.
We started talking
more in Ukrainian.
I remember, I took a taxi
once, when Ukraine seceded.
I told the driver the
address in Russian.
He said: 'Unless you say it
in Ukrainian, I won't take you."
I said: "Damn it!"
And so I got out.
Because when Ukraine
seceded, those who felt humiliated
raised their heads.
They realised they were
now the masters of their land
and started taking it out on us.
But no problems at all here.
People are strikingly
civilised on public transport.
In Lviv if they push you
and you say, 'What
are you pushing for?'
They'll be like. 'Huh huh!'
That is, you are to blame.
But here a guy of
40-50 says 'sorry'.
I've never heard
that 'Huh huh' here!
It was a pleasant surprise,
but I got used to it now.
Lviv means a lots to me
because I used to live there.
But what is happening
there now I find so repulsive,
that I want to distance myself.
I don't want to have
anything to do with it.
Potatoes.
Let's add some salt.
Spread the caviar.
There you have it.
I used to like going to Lviv every
year, when everything was OK.
Now I'm not sure.
You can get stuck in Ukraine, near Kherson,
and they won't let you back to Crimea.
It's risky... Not that they'll
recruit me to the army.
Officially, Natasha moved
to Sevastopol to join her son.
My cousin Max served
in the Ukrainian fleet.
Interestingly, in the 10 days
of holidays in Sevastopol,
we did not see Natasha
in the company of her son.
Who makes such
narrow staircases?
The Chinese?
Alla is tired.
A poor professional,
with a Christmas tree.
A Christmas tree,
a Christmas tree!
[Speaking Ukrainian]
During the peace plan
1500 Ukrainian prisoners
of war were freed.
1500!
Our cyborgs have the most
up-to-date antitank weapons.
- Is it in?
- Yes, very good!
Look, a bauble!
Oh, it's from the lamp.
You'll break the lamp!
[Speaking Ukrainian] The
information has been confirmed.
The separatists lost 14 men.
One was taken captive.
This is true. But that's a war.
The Donetsk airport is a symbol
of the courage of Ukrainian soldiers
and the effectiveness
of the Ukrainian army.
Thank you. I promise you this.
No compromises on
sovereignty and territorial integrity.
This is not measured either
by money or by handshakes.
Ukraine is not for sale.
This is an absolute
principle for me.
Not only on Donbas,
but also on the Crimea.
That's why my advisers Mustafa
Dzhemilev and Refat Chubarov
will both be on the
anti-corruption committee
and that's why a host of initiatives
on the Crimea will be implemented.
This is why we are now
undertaking the blockade.
My request is to check information.
We will be very grateful for this.
Hi, Lyuda.
I can't hear anything.
Who's sitting next to
you? Tamara or Vita?
- Tamara, right?
- You can't see us?
Happy New Year to you!
Thanks. Same to
you. Happy New Year.
Will you keep in
contact now? Or not?
Are we going to talk?
Why wouldn't we? We will.
I called you, but
not a word from you.
I wrote, I called.
I don't want to
discuss these things,
but it's not nice
to be insulted.
Thank God, I can't hear!
when your beloved country is insulted.
But I don't like reading about Ukraine
Lyuda, I can't hear
anyway, so don't even try.
- I think you shouldn't do that.
- I can't hear anyway.
Don't even try,
I can't hear you.
Lyuda, if you want to
talk, talk about the family,
or work
You didn't want to talk at all.
We'd agreed long ago
not to discuss politics.
Lyuda, the issue is closed.
Alright, the issue is closed.
It's closed, right?
Stop. Stop. Stop.
We don't discuss politics. Ever.
I can post anything I want on
my news feed, just as you can.
Post whatever, even
porn. I don't care.
Right. Then let me contact
you at least via Skype.
But I can't get in touch
with you even via Skype.
You seem to hate me so much.
Why didn't you have it out with me?
I start saying something,
you end the call.
I'm talking about you and me,
not the relations of our countries.
Just about you and me.
When I call you, if you
don't like anything, just say:
"Natasha, the issue is closed".
And we discuss other things,
rather than ending the call.
I call, and you don't
want to talk to me at all.
I want to talk to you,
not talk about politics.
I want to ask: is Tamara alive?
Is Tolik alive? How are they?
Where's Vitalyk? Where's
Vita? This is what I want to know.
What's the weather like in Lviv?
Why should I discuss politics?
Why were you banging on
about something for half an hour?
You don't have to read it!
Or delete it, if you
have frayed nerves.
My nervous system is stronger,
evidently, as I take everything calmly.
But what are you doing?
Why do you call the Ukrainian
army "punitive forces"?
Me personally, I don't.
I never wrote that.
- Some people do.
- Because they are killing!
Look, there you go again!
I'll start convincing you
that they kill peaceful people.
Cut it short, Natasha.
Can I talk to you or not?
You can. Go ahead. What
d'you want to know about Lviv?
I start talking to you,
but you don't listen.
What kind of a
conversation is this?
I listened to you,
what I could make out.
When you talked
normally, I heard you, then
Talk slower and quieter,
then I'll hear you fine.
Why are you blaming me?
Am I running around with a gun?
Why do you hate me personally?
We are of one blood, you and me.
We are relatives.
What's the matter?
I don't shoot at anyone,
I don't stand at the
Ukrainian border.
I don't do nasty things.
What have you against me?
We closed the issue,
but there you start again.
I support the people around me.
You support the
people around you.
Why can't we
discuss anything else?
I don't discuss these people, don't
you discuss those in Lviv either.
But we are cousins.
I don't impose
my opinion on you.
But you do impose yours.
I beg your pardon. That's it!
I don't impose
my opinion on you.
I know your opinion.
And you know mine.
God, I can't talk to her!
That's it! I do think
we just have to...
I didn't understand,
I want to find out...
Let me speak.
Will you stay in touch with me, or
will we stop speaking altogether?
- We'll stay in touch.
- So when I call, pick up.
I don't want to
sever ties with Lviv.
I spent most of my life there and I
want to stay in touch with people.
Those who don't shoot
at me, kill or beat me.
I enjoy speaking with
those who treat me decently.
I'll forgive my relatives
anything, for they are relatives.
I forgive you everything,
even what I don't like in you.
But you also try
to be kinder to me.
And don't blame me
for what's not my fault.
This is what I wanted to clear
up. Will you stay in touch with me?
During the whole conversion
Natasha addressed
only her cousin,
although her sister Tamara was
sitting next to Lyuda the whole time.
The sisters did not even
try to find common ground.
Dear friends,
2015 is only a few minutes away!
As always, we
look forward to it,
making wishes for the new
year, giving each other presents
enjoying the wonderful
tradition to meet New Year
with our kin and friends.
Certainly, now each of us cares
first for the prosperity of his own family,
wishes well-being, health and
happiness to their loved ones.
Our individual happiness and success
leads to the prosperity of Russia.
Loving your homeland is one
of powerful and uplifting feelings.
We saw it in the support of the
people of the Crimea and Sevastopol
when they decided
to return home.
This is one of the most
significant events in our history.
We must fulfill all our
plans for our own sakes,
for the sake of our children
and for the sake of Russia.
Friends!
The New Year is almost there.
Let us greet our
nearest and dearest,
thank them for their
understanding, patience and care.
More kindness and love will
bring more confidence and strength.
And success will
certainly follow.
Happy New Year! Happy 2015!
Let's clink glasses.
May the new year be better!
How much better can it be?
It's not a question, it's a
statement! This year will be better!
How many times will it strike?
Let's all make our wishes.
Happy New year!
Let's go and set
off the fireworks!
We'll sing the national
anthem, then we'll go.
Russia the great
How does it go again?
I don't know how it goes.
Listen, when did you sense...
that this would soon be Russia?
Did you just...
To your health!
I'm not sure, I'll have to think.
It was almost a year ago now.
When did I sense that?
How did I sense that? I
don't know. Right away.
You woke up and
you were in Russia.
Right?
You went to bed in Ukraine,
and you woke up in Russia.
Everyone around me wanted
it and felt they were Russian.
Even when I came
here on holiday.
All my friends spoke as if
they were residents of Russia.
They've always felt
they were Russians.
Because their generation
once lived in the Soviet Union.
Our blood circulatory
systems are so interwoven
We can't sever
the ties so quickly.
But NATO is the most dangerous thing.
While NATO was far away, no one worried.
They should've
joined Europe then.
But now it's too late.
NATO is close by: the
Baltics, Georgia, Moldavia.
All around us. And now
Ukraine. That's too much.
So Ukraine decided to join NATO.
- Isn't that its own business?
- No.
America has blocked the Crimea entirely.
No trade with Americans from February 1.
A blocade.
What are they hoping for?
That we get on our knees and
say: 'Sorry, we want to come back'?
Never. People will clench
their teeth and put up with it.
The worse it gets, the
more people rally in grief.
But I don't think we'll be
worse off than in Ukraine
Russia looks after us better
than Ukraine does after Ukrainians.
Now we're under their
wing, they won't desert us.
They say: 'Russia and
Russians don't desert their kin.'
Exactly one hour later, the
Ukrainian New Year struck
and Maxim's family got ready
to raise their glasses again.
[Speaking Ukrainian]
Dearest compatriots,
this last year was
the most difficult
in the 70 years since 1945.
Our mortal enemy
encroached on our lives,
territory, freedom,
independence.
But the whole country -
the young and the old -
rose to defend their homeland.
We shall win this Patriotic
war, for it is a just war.
Our cause is the right
cause! God is with us!
Happy New Year, Ukraine!
How can you not know the
lyrics of your national anthem?
'Has not yet perished, have
not yet perished, in Ukraine.'
'Ukraine has not yet perished'
is the correct version.
But he said 'has'.
'Ukraine has not yet
perished, its freedom and glory.'
- So I misheard?
- What did you hear?
The right version is
'has not yet perished'.
'Glory. Freedom' I
looked it up. Alright.
Where did you hear 'have'?
There are two nouns:
'glory' and 'freedom'.
There's no 'have'. It's
'has not yet perished'.
It's not time yet.
What has Shevchenko
got to do with this?
- Didn't he write the lyrics?
- No, he didn't write them.
- Listen.
- Shevchenko didn't write the lyrics.
- Shevchenko didn't write the lyrics.
- Can you shut up?
Let's bet on it?
The author is an obscure poet
buried in the Chernigov province.
Some teacher who wrote
'Ukraine has not yet perished'.
Shevchenko had
nothing to do with it.
When we changed citizenship,
we had to set up a new club.
The Sevastopol football club was
an enterprise registered in Ukraine.
So it can only
play in competitions
as part of the
Ukrainian Federation.
On Ukrainian territory,
with Ukrainian teams.
To take part in the
Russian championships,
new clubs were registered in
Yalta, Simferopol and Sevastopol.
Obviously, the aim
of the first season
was for the club to get a good
in the Russian football family
But things did not turn
out as we expected.
UEFA decided to forbid our teams
from playing in the
Russian championship.
The RFU can't hold
competitions in Crimea,
which is considered
internationally
as 'occupied' or 'annexed'.
So for now we have
nowhere to play.
Without a top level club
football in the Crimea will die.
You say it's a 'transition
period'. We agree.
Set the date. How long
will the 'transition' last?
If it lasts for a year, or just over,
we can tighten our belts and wait.
But if it could be 10-15 years,
then let's have an honest discussion.
The situation is unclear.
Politically, people
are taking it hard.
They used to think
that hoisting the flag of Russia
would bring prosperity from abroad.
It was at our door, but
they wouldn't let it in.
Now there's no electricity,
no wages, food is expensive.
Now all kinds of thoughts
are coming to mind.
And here we are, with our
football, tall in the saddle.
You have to take the
situation into account.
In spite of the predictions of
the Carpathian soothsayers
and Igor's promises that the
war would be over by autumn,
the war continued to devour
hundreds and thousands of people.
The end did not seem near.
[Speaking Ukrainian] I've
never liked facing the window.
I always wanted to sit in
my own little cubbyhole.
But here it's very cozy.
I missed my job so much.
I started in January
when the place was empty.
Now it's the beginning of
February. Everyone is back.
It's a nice atmosphere.
Everybody is happy to see you.
'The students aren't coming
today, let's have some coffee.'
Sure!
So it's great.
I had my nails done
yesterday. Aren't they nice?
It's gel enamel.
I just had an ordinary manicure.
- Facing students, it's important.
- I agree!
You know the
worst thing about it?
We knew everyone who died at Maidan:
their surnames, biographies, life-stories.
Now with this war
it's just statistics.
No surnames, just
the number of fatalities.
And this is already
viewed as normal.
It's so difficult for
people to return.
People are going about the town,
shopping, the Christmas lights up
Coming back into peace
after bullets whishing above them,
trenches, no water, no decent food...
There are lots of people like that...
Walking in camouflage uniforms...
My dad called his mechanic today,
asked him to change the oil in his car.
He said: 'I'm fighting
in Lisichansk!'
- No way! Didn't he know?
- No.
- Did he volunteer, or was he called up?
- No idea.
It was so unexpected.
'Goodness!', dad said.
Many lecturers
will be called up.
They said wouldn't
call up those with PhDs,
but four already have been
Now they send draft
notices to people's workplace.
To be sure to find them.
Our timetable was planned so that
it'd be easier to step in for someone.
I'm not saying it will
all be over in an instant,
but things might
change before that.
At the beginning,
many of us said:
'Maybe we should give
them Donetsk and Lugansk.'
The ones who are
against it can come here.
I know many people from
there lecturers, students.
I know some girls who just came
here from the Eastern Ukraine.
They say it's nice, they
like it here, it's a great city,
but it's better there
because Russia is there.
People are kind of programmed.
They won't explain why.
They'd give no reasons why.
But then, Lviv is one of the
most pious cities in Ukraine
so the power of people's prayers
might overcome this disaster.
Ukraine has chosen the
European path. At long last!
We'll now officially
move in this direction
Now biometric passports
By the way, my passport is
expiring, soon I'll have a biometric one.
This already will be a step towards
something better, something new.
Show them your finger
and they'll let you go.
We'll join the EU. Not next
year, of course, but in time.
We won't be just a
geographic point in Europe
but a true European country!
But not in a year,
unfortunately.
Seryoga, where did you park?
What are you driving?
The white bus?
- Have you got to Institutskaya?
- Help the soldiers!
I don't see you.
Oh, you are by Khreschatyk
Right. OK. We're almost there.
In winter 2015
Igor moved to Kiev,
where he got a high post
in a government agency.
Welcome to a tour to the residence
of the former president of Ukraine.
For less than 8 US Dollars you
can experience being Yanukovich
In two hours we are
returning to Maidan.
For less than 8 US Dollars you
can experience being the president.
The VIP area is where he lived.
It is enclosed by these railings,
with thick bushes planted all around,
so the staff couldn't not
see what was going on there.
The territory of Mezhegorye
is enclosed by this green fence.
It's six meters high.
Above it is an electric wire.
Up to two metres below
ground is all set in concrete.
We are now driving into
the so-called VIP zone.
It's called the VIP zone
because of the 800 plus staff,
no more than 20 people
had access to this area.
They were the closest circle.
Everyone thought: these days
you can't build anything like that.
They'd say: No, come on,
that would cost too much.
He built this in three years!
They say Petrodvorets can't
be recreated. This is no less!
This is what he wanted, so he
built it. That's what I call power.
Look how beautiful it is!
Looking at it is one thing,
knowing you own it is another.
Oh my!
Oh my, it's incredible!
The knights' hall.
Is this veneer? No...
What did they use here?
Wow, what a picture!
You're James Bond!
Nothing gets too dry.
Look at this technology.
Do you understand
what you're standing on?
Where you're standing now...
It does not go by square meters
This is teak, red wood!
The gangway I've
ordered for my boat...
It's 60cm wide and 180cm long.
That's three boards.
I paid almost $1000
just for the boards.
But here are many square meters,
all in red wood. Solid wood, mind you!
This is African rosewood.
This is something else.
This is oak All kinds of
wood Merbau You name it.
We're walking on stacks of
dollars. Clip, clop, clip, clop.
This is red wood.
- Does this the clock work?
- It doesn't now.
Does anyone want to buy this
place for business purposes?
The problem is that it's still
the property of Yanukovich.
It's not the state property.
They'll come to you and say:
'What were you doing there?
A door-handle is missing.'
They'll figure out who they
can squeeze money out of.
Why do you think the press is
here? Everything is being recorded.
They'll come to us alright.
That's why I feel like I'm
being strip searched here.
My mother had a big
birthday party in February.
She invited her
nearest and dearest.
Better to face that
way, towards the light.
- I can bring another light.
- No, we don't need much light.
Right, we're having
it black and white.
- That's alright...
- This is a good one.
In that one I look
like I'm on the toilet!
These are also sisters:
Vova and Lyuda's mother,
Tamara's and Natasha's mother
and my grandmother
Galina on the right.
She was a staunch
communist her whole life.
She outlived the
USSR by 15 years.
But she died with her photo of Stalin
and party membership card by her side.
She was a character,
she really was a character.
When Valera was of school age...
the question was which school?
I said the Ukrainian one.
It was an issue in Odessa. Never in Lviv!
All our kids went to Ukrainian schools.
We live in Ukraine. We will
always know Russian, anyway.
But if we live here,
the kids should
Valera speaks Ukrainian perfectly.
He went to a Ukrainian high school.
And I'd like Sasha to
go to a Ukrainian school.
Now my attitude to
Russia... You know...
I could skin them
alive! I don't know...
But we still think in Russian.
My thoughts are
shaped in Russian.
I'd always felt drawn
to Vitaly in Moscow.
When I think if Vitaly said:
'Mum, come to Moscow'
I get a lump in my throat.
It's frightening...
Tamara, let's drink
to peace in the world.
It's so terrible.
Just think - Valera
is 17 and a half
and he has received
a draft notice...
Tamara's grandson
will be 20 in May.
Do you understand
how terrible this is?
It's terrible. Why
is this happening?
Let's drink for peace,
at least hope for peace,
- Let the war not affect us.
- Let there be no war!
I'd say I wish at least...
It may be egoistic...
I wish the war does
not affect my family.
Dignity, freedom and victory
Join the army, defend
what's dearest to you
[Speaking Ukrainian]
Despite our Ukrainian soldiers,
victory is still far away.
Reporting our special
correspondent, Andrey Saprienko.
We will tell you about the change
in the Russian military strategy
and show you unique footage
taken by Ukrainian soldiers
in the midst of the fight for
the village of Redkoduby.
No street in Debaltsevo
is unscarred by the war.
The shooting has gone on
24/7 for the last two weeks.
The strategic railway junction
will remain the key spot in Donbas...
To get the whole picture, I
decided to go to Donetsk.
I have relatives there too.
I'd never been to
their home before.
And they implored
me not to come.
Dear friends, here
to address you
is Alexander Zakharchenko, head
of the Donetsk People's Republic.
Dear compatriots...
We shall never
forget their feats!
We'll do all we can to stop the fascists
from trampling over our land again.
Let us honor the memory of
these heroes with a minute's silence.
The awards ceremony of the
Donetsk People's Republic army.
For courage and excellent performance
in battles with the enemy's army
we award lieutenant Andrei Bykov
the St George's
Cross, Fourth Class.
Posthumously. May
his memory live forever.
Hurray!
To be delivered to relatives.
For courage and excellent performance
in battles with the enemy's army
we award senior
lieutenant Sergei Rasamakh
the St George's
Cross, Fourth Class.
I serve the Donetsk
People's Republic.
Our oldest relative, grandpa
Misha, Igor's grandfather,
lives here, in a
miners' settlement
in the area controlled by the
Donetsk People's Republic.
How did he end up here?
In 1948 he was
drafted to the army.
Stalin sent him here in 1948
to rebuild the
town after the war.
He was sent to Donbas
with everyone from Russia.
To restore Donbas.
And then we started to
And he was sent to Donbas.
And was restoring
In Makeyevka there was
a big iron and steel works,
named after Lenin.
It was totally destroyed.
They were rebuilding it.
They had three small kids:
Tolik, Masha and Natasha.
They moved into a
communal flat here.
A communal flat. They
had three children already.
Me and Allochka
were already born here.
Mum said she threw the
three little beggars in a sack
and left Voronezh for Donbas.
Russia was poverty-stricken.
But in Donbas, they said,
even sausage was available.
People were
rebuilding the industries
and the men needed to be fed.
Mines and factories
were being restored.
All heavy infrastructure.
And the workers had to be fed.
There was milk, butter, sausage.
They arrived and
their jaws dropped.
Donbas was amply
supplied, dad said.
By Stalin's order.
This meant good food.
How could Voronezh compare?
Take a sip, take a sip.
I prepared the hot water,
got into the bath
but couldn't get out.
I knew it!
- I wanted to shout, to call someone.
- Dad, how could you?
What if you had drowned?
Allochka will look after you.
A month, or two, or three?
We'll decide later.
I was away, Allochka
will put the house in order.
He's all alone in this house.
This is Vitaly, the brother of
our Igor's wife, Lena, in Odessa.
- What's your name, son?
- Vitaly.
I'm granddad Misha.
The empties go down,
the cargo up goes.
When you came in 1952,
did this feel like Ukraine?
That this was Ukraine? Or not?
I didn't pay much attention.
I had to find some lodging.
I mean, was it clear after
the war, that this was Ukraine?
That another nation lived here?
In the mine there
were all sorts of people.
All western Ukrainians
and Georgians
No distinctions made.
No one said: I'm
this, or I'm that.
So what's happened now?
People were just set
against one another.
It was the fascists.
The Americans.
Our government would not
last long with these policies.
It would not.
Americans want to
split Russia at all costs.
Republic of Donetsk
Do you hear the
chimes every day?
It's so beautiful!
Attention...
to the state flag of
the Russian Federation
and the Victory Banner!
For the second year the
brigades on Red Square
carries the flags of Crimea,
the hero-city Sevastopol
and the Black Sea Fleet.
The parade is headed
by battalion chief
lieutenant-colonel
Oleg Tychinsky.
They should send
them to Ukraine.
They'd restore
order in a second.
We are keeping up the traditions
glorified by the Black Sea
School of Naval Forces.
This is Russia
Channel, the news.
On air with you are Maria
Sittel and Andrey Kondrashov.
Breaking news:
The shelling of Donetsk turned
out to be a "cover operation".
Kiev sent 1500 soldiers to a
break-through at Novoazovsk.
What's the upshot, and
will the contact group meet?
Denis Pushilin is on air.
The Ukrainian forces
started an offensive
for the first time since
the February truce.
Well, Russia
provides total support.
Without Russia, certainly...
neither Donetsk nor Lugansk could
endure there would be no food.
20 convoys already.
They bring materials, food,
and weapons, of course.
True.
They claim they
don't bring weapons.
This is not true.
But what if
Ukrainians came here?
They do come They've occupied
They're no good.
They get drunk, the
soldiers can crash a car
If they suspect you're against
Ukraine, they'll shoot you dead.
Like the Bandera followers
did in 1943 with the soldiers.
They'd hang the soldiers
and make a fire under them.
They burnt them alive. Bandera supporters.
That's the kind of people they are.
They came with a saw
and cut him up
in front of his wife.
The wife turned
grey in an instant.
So bloodthirsty they were,
the Bandera supporters.
And now they swagger:
"The war will go on."
'We'll take back Crimea,
Donetsk and Lugansk."
Take back Crimea? not likely!
They can't wait
You'll never get
anything there anymore.
They tell him: 'Take
care of Ukraine.
"Or else Poland will take Lviv."
"Western Ukraine will go
to Hungary. Or Romania."
'Ukraine will no longer exist.'
I know it all. I've
seen it all on TV.
And I remember everything.
Spring came to Tamara's family
together with a long-expected event.
They'd tried not to think
about it until the last moment.
Will that do?
Right.
- So that it did not get cold...
- What's in them?
Potato and tuna.
Maybe you want more?
Take as much as you want.
Let's sit down before
the trip. Quickly. Move on.
Everyone sit
down before the trip.
Today Zhenya is
leaving for the army.
And in spring 2015
everyone in Ukraine knows
that this is not just an army drill.
Crimea is Russia!
Thanks to Putin for
Crimea and Sevastopol
When I was making this film
about my Ukrainian relatives,
I kept thinking about
my home, my country,
which for me was
undoubtedly Russia.
But the beginning of the New History,
with the onset of events in Ukraine,
has also changed Russia.
And the story I just told you
changed a lot in my personal life.
It has changed everything.
I no longer live in Russia,
but I still consider
everything happening there
to be my personal tragedy.