Films about Victory in Great Patriotic War presented on Presidential Library's TV Channel

To mark the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory, the Presidential Library presents films and video lectures about the heroism of the Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War. We offer you to get acquainted with the most striking film screenings, which will be shown on the library's TV channel on the eve of Victory Day and on 9 May.

On the eve of the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War there will be shown the documentary "Berlin Operation" and films dedicated to the inventors of Soviet weapons that led our army to Victory. The documentary film of the Presidential Library Leningrad addresses of M.T. Kalashnikov presents a little-known period of the small arms designer's life - his work in Leningrad in 1941. The viewers have a rare opportunity to see one of the oldest artillery ranges in the country, where some of Kalashnikov's small arms were tested; the installation of a monument to Mikhail Kalashnikov on the territory of the Military History Museum of Artillery, Engineering and Communication Forces.

The video film Katyusha came ashore tells how on 14 July 1941 an incredibly powerful barrage of fire suddenly fell on German units near Orsha. Soon the whole world learnt about the presence of rocket artillery in the Red Army units. The multiple rocket launchers, later called Katyushas, were officially adopted on the eve of the war, on 21 June 1941.

Jet shells could be mounted not only on cars, but also on aeroplanes. They, among other weapons, were equipped with IL-2 attack aircraft, which is described in the film IL-2. Flying Tank. The aircraft, created in OKB-240 under the leadership of Sergei Ilyushin, performed any mission: it was used as an attack aircraft, bomber, reconnaissance aircraft, and in special situations - as a fighter. Germans called Il-2 "black death" and "concrete bomber".

The film PPSh. Symbol of Victory. The decree on the adoption of the Shpagin submachine gun (PPSh) by the Soviet army was issued six months before the outbreak of war - in December 1940. Soon the designers were saying that "our army is saturated with submachine guns - a nice, simple, trouble-free weapon". The Shpagin submachine gun became the most mass-produced weapon in the Red Army's armament system.

The screening of films dedicated to the feat of arms of the Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War will continue on 9 May.

The documentary film Library Front 1941-1945, created by the Presidential Library in cooperation with the Eurasia Library Assembly, tells about the contribution of the USSR libraries to the victory over fascism. The film shows the activities of republican libraries (now national libraries of the CIS countries) from 1941 to 1945 in the occupied territories, on the front line and in the rear. The documentary basis of the film was formed by diaries, letters, telegrams, memoirs of the libraries' employees who worked in the wartime.

Thanks to the Presidential Library film With a Prayer for the Fallen you can visit the Church of the Holy Martyrs Adrian and Natalia, which is dedicated to the dead and missing during the defence of Leningrad from the German invaders. The parish of the church is active in perpetuating the memory of the fallen defenders of Leningrad: the Museum of Military Glory DOT has been created, and a memorial park has been laid out around the church.

The video film Yungi from Valaam Island, prepared by the staff of the Presidential Library, tells about the heroism of the students of the school of naval bosuns who took part in the battles on the bridgehead Nevsky Pitachok and in the defence of the Ladoga crossing on the Road of Life in 1941-1942.

The film The Road to Berlin, shot at the St. Petersburg Documentary Film Studio, tells the story of the last and largest military operation of the Second World War - the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation conducted by the armies of the 1st, 2nd Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts, emphasises the importance of the role of the front commanders in the operation - G. K. Zhukov, K. K. Rokossovsky, I. S. Konev.

On the festive day will be shown documentaries from the cycle "On the Way to the Great Victory" of the historical channel "365 Days TV": "The Next Goal - Stalingrad" and "Indestructible and Legendary" - a film about the 2nd Guards Army, which played an important role in the defeat of the German fascist group of troops at Stalingrad.

Another cycle of the historical channel "365 Days TV" - "Heroes of Victory" - will show films about the Heroes of the Soviet Union: Pavel Semyonovich Rybalko, Marshal of Armoured Troops, commander of armoured and mechanised armies of the Soviet Army, twice Hero of the Soviet Union; Nina Andreyevna Onilova, commander of a machine-gun crew of the 54th rifle regiment of the 25th Chapayev Division of the Primorsky Army of the Crimean Front; Sergei Borzenko, front-line correspondent of the 18th Army newspaper "Znamya Rodiny" of the North Caucasus Front; Alexander Novikov, commander of the Red Army Air Forces, Chief Marshal of Aviation, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, and other heroes of the Great Patriotic War.

Thanks to the video film "Don't Wait!" directed by Vasily Chiginsky, one can learn little-known facts about the history of the round-the-world voyage of the submarine S-56, which set sail from Vladivostok in October 1942.

Especially for students, the Presidential Library's portal shows video lectures, the topics of which reveal and supplement the school programme. The topics of the video lecture Knowledge of Russia reflect the main areas of the Presidential Library's collection: the history of the Russian state and law, Russian as the state language of the Russian Federation. The lectures are traditionally delivered by authoritative specialists from scientific and educational institutions of Moscow, St. Petersburg and other Russian cities.

Films and video lectures prepared by the Presidential Library, as well as video tapes of the leading Russian film and TV studios are broadcast in the TV channel section. There is also a schedule of broadcasts for the coming days. Viewing is available round the clock on the Presidential Library's portal, as well as on the institution's Rutube channel.

Please note that in the section Live Broadcasts live broadcasting of the library's events and publication of their programme for the coming days.

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