Operation Liberation
An in-depth look at the special operation in Ukraine
At the beginning of 2022, Ukraine amassed 150,000 soldiers on the borders of Donbass. They were getting ready for a final assault to take over the Donbass region. Their confidence was backed up by the NATO and the US military equipment and training and assurances of the USA intelligence that they control all Russian plans. That, combined with previous statements of Ukrainian authorities about intentions to enter NATO and develop weapons of mass destruction, was crossing the red line for the Russian Federation. On February 24 2022, President Vladimir Putin declared the start of the special operation in Ukraine.
Russia doesn’t see the Ukrainian people as enemies. “The emphasis is placed on saving the lives of civilians, of the soldiers, our opponents. The main goals of the special operation were to protect the Donbass people and secure Russian borders from the aggressive Kiev regime, which made tight bonds with NATO and the USA.
All you should know about the special operation in Ukraine in Operation Liberation
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/operation-liberation/
Duration: 26:15
Directed by
Oleg Nekishev
Inside Russia’s Military Operation
Moscow’s objectives and the West’s interest in Ukraine support
By the end of 2021, Ukraine amassed 150,000 troops near the border of the Donbass and Lugansk in an effort to conquer those territories ravaged by years of war. A large-scale Ukrainian aggression was being prepared. For years, the US and its allies have been furnishing Kiev with military aid for training and equipment worth billions of dollars. The country was long chosen as NATO’s foothold right on Russia’s doorstep.
Kiev insists the Russian offensive was unprovoked, but multiple attempts on the part of Moscow to negotiate the ‘rules’ and NATO expansion in Europe failed. Moscow is ready for a peace deal, but Kiev has other plans, which is to defeat Russia on the battlefield with the help of western weapons.
Experts in the documentary explain why the ongoing fighting is a proxy war between Russia and the US - and why it’s a boon for the American defence industry. ‘It’s one of these situations where the US can take part in a conflict without losing its people’.
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/inside-russias-military-operation/
Duration: 27:30
Ukraine's Fake Factory
How Ukraine creates fake news during the conflict
The work of Ukraine’s fake factory is in full swing. False messages about Russia’s special operation in Ukraine are flooding social media. You will see how fakes are designed specifically for the Russian, Western and Ukrainian audiences. Experts explain how false information spreads on the internet, reveal secrets of the ‘fake factory’ and tell how to fight lies.
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/ukraines-fake-factory/
Duration: 10:37
Operation Ukraine: Crime without Punishment
The history of Ukraine’s crimes against Donbass civilians
On March 14, 2022, the Ukrainian Army struck residential buildings in Donetsk with a Tochka U missile. The air defence system shot the missile down, but one warhead exploded in the middle of a busy street, in the centre of the Donetsk Republic's capital, killing more than 20 civilians and maiming dozens more.
The documentary traces back the war crimes committed by the Ukrainian side starting from as early as 2014. Journalists and activists who collect evidence of atrocities speak on how the Kiev authorities have been directing them and have given a free hand to nationalist battalions in the southeast. They share their thoughts on why the Western media and human rights organisations ignore hours of video evidence of Ukraine’s abuse.
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/operation-ukraine-crime-without-punishment/
Duration: 51:47
Fast Forward to Fascism
Ukrainian nationalism in the making
The nationalist movement in Ukraine didn’t just happen; it took years to build. It's been growing for years, nurtured by western curators and supported by western funds. By the beginning of the Maidan, an entire network of neo-nazi units had already been up and running in Ukraine, but the Ukrainian government didn’t prosecute them. Ready and able military and terrorist units dispersed and showed up at anti-Maidan meetings in Ukraine’s cities. The years 2019 and 2020 saw meetings and protests in Kiev demanding the denial of special status for the DNR and LNR breakaway regions.
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/fast-forward-to-fascism/
Duration: 27:38
Operation Ukraine: America's Fingerprints
Who supports Ukrainian Nationalism?
As soon as World War II ended and the Nazis were defeated, US intelligence agencies built ties with former Hitler collaborators to work together against the Soviet Union and then Russia. The operation to form an armed underground movement in Western Ukraine was dubbed 'Aerodynamic'. The CIA assembled war criminals and Bandera movement activists from filtration camps, and created an agent network. Their task was to sabotage nuclear plants and dams on Ukrainian territory in an effort to separate it from the Soviet Union. They terrorised civilians and were responsible for at least 35,000 casualties, according to CIA co-founder Frank Wisner.
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/americas-fingerprints/
Duration: 52:22
Foreign Fighters of Donbass
Foreign volunteers against Ukrainian neo-Nazism
International soldiers of the Donbass militia volunteered to fight Ukrainian neo-Nazism. They’re from Mexico, Columbia, the USA, Serbia, and all over the globe. Locals treat them as heroes. Europe and the USA consider them criminals and mercenaries. If they return home, decades of prison could await them. But they don’t regret it – Donbass has become their home.
Unlike international military instructors and mercenaries in the Ukrainian army, foreign volunteers of the Donbass militia have strong motivation. They confront neo-Nazism as their ancestors did. What they do and how they feel about what they see – in our Foreign Fighters of Donbass documentary.
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/foreign-fighters-of-donbass/
Duration: 50:46
Russophobia: History of Hate
Western disdain for Russia explained
Russia has been portrayed as a ‘savage and barbaric’ nation, from Ivan the Terrible to Vladimir Putin. But where does the image come from? The documentary explores the creation of the anti-Russian narrative in the West and how it spread to the media and popular culture.
The mythical ferocious Russian bear and the tale of bad Russia still feature in the media and contribute to modern russophobia. The documentary traces the origins of the anti-Russian narrative in the West and explores who benefits from it.
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/russophobia-history-of-hate/
Duration: 53:59
Lugansk’s Forgotten Children
Helping disabled children left behind in the conflict
The documentary shows how Lugansk institutions for children and adults with neuropsychiatric disorders have survived amid the fighting. A psychiatric care home in the city of Rovenki has made it thanks to the personnel. They’ve been taking care of 195 children who were born with profound mental disabilities.
Another facility, located in Krasnodon, is home for terminally ill children who will never leave the place. With the help of the ‘Road of Life’ foundation, doctors and nurses from Lugansk seek to improve conditions for their patients. Despite the ongoing fighting, helping the ‘inconvenient' children remains their priority.
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/lugansks-forgotten-children/
Duration: 27:10
Children of Donbass
Growing up under Ukrainian artillery fire
For eight years, the children of Donbass have been walking to school under Ukrainian artillery fire, have been separated from or even lost their parents, and have learnt to distinguish one type of ammo from another. However, they still have hope for a better future and dream of becoming teachers, engineers, and doctors to one day make their land thrive once again.
This is why even during the hardest of shellings, as they take refuge in basements, they carry on studying and refuse to quit school. With scarce light, little sleep and nearly no food they still manage to get their homework done.
How these brave children survive amid death and destruction you will see in the documentary.
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/children-of-donbass/
Duration: 53:16
Heroes Among Us
A surgeon rescues kids injured by Ukrainian fire
In Donetsk kids have long been avoiding playgrounds – the risk of stepping on a mine there is too high. Yet the number of children injured by mine blasts or artillery shelling grows every day. Doctors may perform up to 8 emergency operations with no breaks to save wounded kids. Yevgeniy Zhilitsyn is an orthopedic surgeon. For over 20 years he has been carefully teaching his little patients to take the first few steps again. But after the outbreak of hostilities in 2014, he hardly performs any scheduled operations. For the most part of the time, it is mine blast injury victims that undergo treatment. Yevgeniy says that many of his colleagues have fled Donbass – the city is constantly shelled, there is no water and sometimes doctors have to work without pay. But the awareness that the future of these kids depends on him drives Yevgeniy to continue working at DPR Trauma Center. ‘How can I go when they feel bad?’ he asks himself.
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/heroes-among-us-1/
Duration: 27:05
Feminine Front
Women in Donbass take up arms to defend their homes
Since 2014 Donbass citizens have faced violence and bombing. The government’s armed forces that once defended civilians’ security, have become a tool against the people of Donbass. ‘We were still basically part of Ukraine at the time, and that ruler who gave the order to shoot at and destroy cities, to bomb them, he has already committed a crime against his own people', said Olga Kachura, code-named Korsa. She used to be an officer in the regular Ukrainian military, but her government’s actions left Olga with no way to honour her oath. She joined the militia to defend her home and became the only woman to serve as a senior commander.
Find out what it means to be a woman on the frontline, and see women can be stronger than men.
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/feminine-front/
Duration: 50:04
Young Guard Reborn
Donbass youth on the defence of their motherland again
The small town of Krasnodon in Donbass is home to the Young Guard, a famous WWII underground organisation. A group of local school students united to resist the Nazi occupiers who took the city in 1942. Young partisans, some of them as young as 14, carried out arson and sabotage and disseminated leaflets. Despite brutal conditions under Nazi occupation and the risk of being arrested, the teenagers continued their activities.
The Young Guard has inspired generations, including the Krasnodon locals. When the war broke out in Donbass in 2014, some teenagers joined people’s militia to resist the Ukrainian army. The documentary tells stories of young men from Krasnodon and nearby cities in Donbass who defend their home despite their young age.
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/young-guard-reborn/
Duration: 54:46
Water: Donetsk's Lifeline
Volunteers supply water to Donbass under shelling
Since the spring of 2022, Novruz and his 9-year-old son Elnur - despite the risk involved - constantly look for water and deliver up to 27 barrels per day to the bombed areas. Volunteers who help with water supplies say any stationary equipment for drilling wells is immediately attacked by the Ukrainians. All work has to be done quickly and discreetly. However, no matter the risk, volunteers continue to deliver water to more and more Donbass residents. What drives these people to help others at their own peril?
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/water-donetsk-lifeline/
Duration: 26:09
Written and directed by Vyacheslav Guz
Donbass: That’s Why I’m Here
Foreign journalists risk lives and careers for revelatory Donbass reports
In 2014, Vittorio-Nicola Rangeroni, a journalist from Italy, was visiting Kiev. He wanted to explore the ancient city sights, but witnessed a coup d'état instead. Surprisingly, the way Italian media described the unfolding events had nothing in common with what Vittorio had seen in Ukraine. The brutal suppression of dissent, the murder of Donbass civilians by their own government — Western media reported none of this. That is why in 2015 Vittorio went to Lugansk and became a war correspondent himself. The journalist believes people in the West should have an opportunity to learn the true story behind this conflict. Vittorio is not the only one — journalists from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Finland go to the most dangerous zones of Donbass every day. They collect locals’ stories and videos to withstand powerful propaganda in their home countries. What motivates them to risk their lives reporting from the cities shelled by the Ukrainian army?
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/donbass-thats-why-im-here/
Duration: 53:46
Ukraine: The Road to Schism
Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine suppressed and silenced
Orthodox Christianity in Ukraine is thousands of years old, and the faith was the major uniting factor. Any religious disagreements would disrupt the society. This is why the Ukrainian security services brand any monk or priest unwilling to break off relations with the Russian Orthodox Church as an agent of Moscow. Now the church, subordinate to the Moscow Patriarch, is described as hostile, something that must be eliminated.
“That was the first time I’d ever seen violent seizures of churches, and what militant nationalist groups were like. While filming sacred celebrations in western Ukraine, a crowd of half-drunk local nationalists turned up and started beating up Orthodox priests in front of me”, says Aleksandr Egortsev, special correspondent of Spas TV Channel. Since then, Aleksandr has faced a growing number of unjustified attacks on the Orthodox Church in Ukraine. Why have those who pray for peace been outlawed and persecuted?
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/ukraine-the-road-to-schism/
Duration: 26:42
War Correspondents
Reporting from the Donbass hot zone
Everyday war correspondents travel to the most dangerous zones of Donbass. Though journalists have no military education, it’s vital to understand how to behave under shelling and be familiar with weapons. “Journalist are priority SBU targets. I was put on their wanted list, and they’re looking for me officially. They've collected data for Interpol. It’s clearly absurd, but that's the reality now”, says reporter Evgeny Poddubny, who has been covering the events in Donbass since 2014.
For Evgeny and his colleagues reporting the true story is more than just a job; they must be ready to perform their task under the harshest conditions. What motivates reporters to choose a job that can get them killed?
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/war-correspondents/
Duration: 96:37
Directed by Artyom Somov
Donbass Under Fire
Life in the Donetsk Republic under bombs
After the Donetsk People’s Republic was proclaimed, war ravaged Donbass. Ukrainian artillery has been shelling towns and villages. Some people were lucky to get evacuated. Others stayed at their own peril and lost connection with their families. Either way, they did their best to survive in the ruins of their own houses and hope for a better future.
DNR residents who were separated from their relatives and loved ones by the front line venture out to the once Ukrainian city of Volnovakha, which now belongs to the DNR, to look for them and possibly reunite. But not everybody is willing to leave the houses they’ve been living in for years and abandon their pets.
How do people find the courage to remain strong and compassionate during shelling?
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/donbass-under-fire/
Duration: 25:20
Directed by Oleg Nekishev
Mariupol: A Homecoming
Looking back at the origins of the battle
The Battle for Mariupol lasted 83 days. It is the primary combat of the special operation in Ukraine. Ukrainian army and nationalists from the Azov battalion tried to turn the city into a stronghold. Azov’s tactics of using civilians as human shields dramatically complicated the combat. They locked the exits from Mariupol, preventing people from evacuating through ‘green corridors’. That led to multiple civilian casualties. Russian soldiers had to take considerable risks to save the citizens of Mariupol.
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/mariupol-a-homecoming/
Duration: 52:28
Battle for Mariupol
Azov attack survivors hope for a new life
From February 2022, Mariupol residents had to hide in basements with no water, food or medicine, as Ukrainian forces failed to plan the mass evacuation of civilians. They are stationed in populated areas and use civilians as human shields. The tactic was not intended to win the battle but to extend the operation. The large civilian presence prevented Russian troops from making an active response. While retreating, Ukrainian soldiers fired on civilian buildings to pin the blame on Russian forces.
Russian troops took control of Mariupol in early May 2022. The remaining Ukrainian forces still hold the ‘Azovstal’ plant. Today active combat in the city has ceased. In the film, viewers get to see actual footage of city combat, devastated streets and the real stories of civilians.
Today, the people of Mariupol can say they have survived hell. But at what cost?
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/battle-for-mariupol/
Duration: 33:47
Lugansk: Road to Independence 2022-2014
The Lugansk People’s Republic living through the Donbass war
In 2014, Lugansk didn’t recognise the new nationalist government after the Maidan coup, so the Ukrainian administration responded to protests with brute force. After the coup, the new Ukrainian authorities declared Russia an enemy and banned Russian culture and language. They started repressing all regions with Russian-speaking people.
Today the Lugansk People’s Republic is recognised as an independent state by the Russian Federation. The special operation in Ukraine aims to defend the Donbass people from the rising aggression of the Ukrainian nationalists. Lugansk citizens say they will never forget the atrocities of the Ukrainian nationalists and never wish to be a part of Ukraine again.
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/lugansk-road-to-independence/
Duration: 51:30
Donbass: I'm Alive!
Mariupol survivors of Ukrainian attacks find shelter
The film tracks stories of people who had to survive in Mariupol under Ukrainian shelling. Sheltering in cellars and watching Ukrainian tanks firing at residential buildings. They have all gone through hell and back. Now they’re happy to be alive and hope for a new beginning.
A Russian military officer drives across shelled Mariupol to distribute humanitarian aid. A volunteer from Texas, who came to Donbass eight years ago, as he refused to believe American propaganda, helps reunite families separated during the evacuation. A hieromonk who was taken hostage by Azov members and tortured miraculously survived and dedicated his life to studying the origins of nazism in Ukraine. A courageous OB-GYN who runs a maternity ward helped give birth to 25 women during the bombing.
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/donbass-im-alive/
Duration: 50:04
Maidan: Road to War
The story behind Maidan
Maidan: Road to War was shot from 2014 to 2022, as the DNR and LNR territory was subjected to daily shelling from Ukraine. The film delves into the 2014 situation in Ukraine and pieces together the course of events. The film wants to draw the attention of the Ukrainian authorities to the shelling and the deaths of civilians in the Donbass, but the government didn’t respond.
Maidan movement gained momentum in Kiev in 2013. Protests were prompted by the government’s decision to suspend the signing of the association agreement with the European Union. At first, the protests looked like a rock festival, but soon signs of hostility started to creep in from politicians and nationalists.
They were deliberately provocative. Leaders of nationalist organisations admit they have been preparing for violent street riots long before the protests engulfed Kiev. They planned a revolution and the deposition of the government from the start.
See how the events unfolded and what eventually led to the conflict in our film.
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/maidan-road-to-war/
Duration: 53:04
Crimea for Dummies
Locals’ point of view of Crimea’s reunification with Russia
For his first film project American filmmaker Miguel Francis chose the highly controversial subject of Crimea and how it was reunited with Russia. He travels to the beautiful Peninsula to see the current situation first hand and to explore its history and cultural heritage. He takes in some of Crimea’s tourist attractions and historical sites while talking to local people about their attitudes to becoming Russian citizens.
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/crimea-for-dummies/
Duration: 26:15
Ukraine's Refugees
Civilians fleeing from war find shelter in Russia
Thousands of civilians are fleeing Ukraine’s towns and villages that are subject to Government airstrikes. They’re abandoning their homes, parting with relatives and leave their motherland behind. They don’t know what lies ahead, except that they and their children will be safe from the horrors of war. As they travel to cross the border into Russia, refugees share first-hand accounts of indiscriminate violence and atrocities of a military conflict that forced them to run, quite literally, for their lives. In place of shells and bombs they’ve chosen homelessness and the chance to seek shelter in a foreign country.
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/ukraines-refugees/
Duration: 26:36
Volunteers for Victory
The documentary tells the stories of four men who volunteered to join the Russian armed forces to take part in the special military operation. See how volunteer battalions are formed, what combat training is like and how men like programmers, businessmen and labourers make the decision. Some say they had previous combat experience and couldn’t remain idle. Others expected to be drafted but never were, so they volunteered. “Volunteers for Victory” also reveals the Salavat Yulayev battalion, “BARS-16”, a Kuban cossack unit and the “Tiger” battalion.
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/volunteers-for-victory/
Duration: 27:19
Walking after War
Volunteers Raise Funds for Injured Donbass Veterans
Victor lost his right arm and leg in combat, and Vitaly lost both legs fighting against the Ukrainian nationalists in Donbass. Now they are one step away from returning to normal lives, but it takes a lot of willpower. However, these guys are brave and willing to live and learn to walk again. Anatoly Shevchenko, a prosthetics engineer who also lost his leg 15 years ago, now helps veterans to recover and get used to their new arms and legs. His clinic operates free of charge and raises funds for modern prostheses so as every one may afford this expensive procedure. What does it feel like — helping someone to learn to walk again?
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/one-step/
Duration: 54:50
Ghosts: Soldiers of a Forgotten War
Living and fighting in the Donbass hot zone
The Donetsky settlement bordering the Lugansk People's Republic and surrounding regions is one of the hottest spots along the entire frontline. For over seven years, military conflict, unseen and forgotten by many, has been raging here. But the Ghost Battalion held down the fort all this time. The film documents the life of the battalion for the past three years.
What do summer days and winter nights look like for the soldiers? How do they go about their daily routine of eating and sleeping? What does actual battle look like? These military personnel have spent over seven years in battles. What are they fighting for? These are the questions the soldiers are discussing in the independent documentary by Maksim Fadeev and Sergey Belous — what they feel, what their life is like and what they expect of the future.
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/ghosts-soldiers-of-a-forgotten-war/
Duration: 106:23
Demining Donbass
Sappers risk their lives clearing Donbass from Ukrainian mines
Despite being banned under the UN Ottawa Treaty since 1997, thousands of anti-personnel mines litter the parks, streets, schools and homes in Donbass. Residents risk severe injuries and even death if they happen to accidentally stumble upon the tiny ‘petal’ mines.
It will take years to remove all of the mines, according to some experts. The Ukrainian army uses Uragan multiple launch rocket systems, which are able to throw more than 4,000 mines at a time.
The documentary takes a look at the arduous mission of the de-mining campaign in Donbass. Victims of ‘petal’ mines talk about the injuries they received, while sappers describe their work on the ground and underwater.
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/demining-donbass/
Duration: 50:43
Poets on the Frontline
Voices of the Donbass art scene
Maidan and Ukrainian neo-Nazis rising to power, the persecution of Ukraine's Russian-speaking population and eight years of confrontation between two ideologies shaped a different, but equally important, front in the Donbass' struggle for independence. It was this front where poets and musicians have stood shoulder-to-shoulder.
The members of the Donbass art scene come from a variety of different backgrounds and have many stories to tell about how they ended up in Donbass. The poet Anna Dolgareva, for example, after losing her sweetheart, found that writing poems about the special operation was her way to carry on and find solace. She feels it's her duty to support those fighting on the frontline. “It's at the front where people are the most real, most awesome,” she says.
See Donbass’ struggle for independence through the eyes of its poets and musicians and learn their bittersweet, tragic, and deeply inspirational stories in the documentary.
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/poets-on-the-frontline/
Duration: 54:02
Dr Donbass: Behind the frontline
Heroic routine of Donbass medical units
The doctors of Donbass, who work close to the frontline, treat injured soldiers from both sides and civilians who came under the shelling, and they never judge. Some may say they are like angels in purgatory deciding the fate of those who entered it. But in reality, they are just vulnerable humans who are just as scared of the gunfire, constantly worried about their loved ones, and attend to patients with little to no resources. But they manage to brave all the hardships and save lives no matter what.
Alinat is a doctor in the medical unit. She was born in Mariupol and studied at a medical university in Donetsk. So when Ukrainian tanks came, they only made things clearer, 'There was aggression from the other side, and we had to defend ourselves, that’s how it was. They came to us with tanks. We had nothing. There was a checkpoint nearby; there were guys there with only a couple of rifles. And they came to us with tanks; they were shooting at us from tanks. We didn’t even think we could somehow be on the other side. After all, we are closer to Russia,' recalls Alinat.
Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/dr-donbass-behind-the-frontline/
Duration: 25:53
- Evidence of the crimes of Ukrainian neo-Nazis and their accomplices: https://is.gd/0lbOKu
- Evidence of the Ukrainian Nazi crimes in Donbass (2022): https://is.gd/Zw9xFd
- The book by the President of the Foundation for the Study of Democracy Maxim Grigoriev "Ukraine's Crimes Against Humanity (2022-2023)": https://vk.cc/cs3xbG
- Digital brochure “Ukraine: Center of Global Nazism” traces down the history of Ukrainian Nazism from WWII to the present day and contains evidence of the crimes committed by the Kiev regime: https://tinyurl.com/kesdzycx
- Ambassador’s article “10 years of the Ukraine crisis”: https://l1nk.dev/C1Evw
- Report "The atrocities of the Kiev neo-nazi regime in the Kursk region" (Read here)
- Exhibition prepared by Maxim S. Grigoriev "The atrocities of the Kiev neo-nazi regime in the Kursk region" (Read here)
- Reunification of children evacuated to Russia from the new Russian regions and Ukraine, with their relatives: https://acesse.one/zVx7m
- It is important for global community to keep in mind that the current situation around Ukraine is a result of Western powers’ attempts: https://acesse.one/2mpSK
- Russian Embassy’s comment on Jonathan Eyal’s article “The Ugly Face of Vaccine Nationalism” (The Straits Times, October 19, 2020): https://l1nk.dev/nkKNE
- Embassy Comment 7 March, 2025. On the situation around Ukraine.
