Transcripts For DW The Russians 20240712

Start training at 10 oclock in the morning in st petersburg. This week in the afternoon where your boss lives 4500 kilometers further east on lake by count. Both live in russia the largest country in the loft. But russias true greatness it is said lies not in its area but in its people there are more than 146000000. 00 russians each with a story to tell. Their stories full of hope and joy. Of sadness and anger. On our trip through this vast country we will meet 6 people from 6 different generations. It is quite. Eliminative each has much to town about childhood and youth about working and growing a lot. About life in big cities and in tiny villages about having children and about dying in russia. Through them we discover life in russia from birth to death. The touch lives. I am. This time our journey takes us from the north west across the country to siberia and then to central russia. Cool. At the channel metallurgical combine days begin with an alcohol test. Its one of the obligatory Safety Measures at this company which is one of russias largest steel works. To explain. To me 3 can cause is a process technician at Blast Furnace number 5 which is bigger than any Blast Furnace in europe. Its a fiery giant more than 100. 00 metres high. Iron ore and coke are let in at the top of the structure. At the bottom it spews out more tin crude iron. 13 and a half 1000 tons every day. A sub and i said what special about our Blast Furnace is that it runs all year long day and night. The furnace is nicknamed 7 again kind which translates roughly as nordic beauty although said our young because heat is a very nordic. Version was it her job is to give us the smelting product crude iron. Bars or just thats the material we earn our money with him again developing. Just next door the crude for pink irony is clear. Pressed and she. To me it seems to make steel a material that is essential in areas ranging from construction to the gas industry. Its also central to Economic Life and a symbol of russias heavy industry. Shows it upsets him more than i started here when i was 20 right after the army yeah it wasnt a random bus station back then this was one of the best industrial plants you could work out in terms of their pay on the social benefits but its still like that today but. Several young camp provides all of russia with iron less than half of the steel produced here is export. Blast furnace number 5 seems to live brief and sometimes. To act out when it 1st went into operation more than 30 years ago it was served by more than 700 workers today there are just 176 of them they take care of the furnace and ensure that the blaze never goes out. And. You know its awful such as im a steel smelter from head to toe on the uphill 1st i worked as a smelter at the runoff then as a gas worker and watched them then i got further training and became a Plant Operator doesnt so im like a search of the walk breaks every day and is only seen as special by outsiders for me this is every day routine suka after sitting. With an output of more than 70000000. 00 tonnes per year russia is the worlds 5th biggest steel producer dimitri khan calm is proud to be doing his small parts to contribute to that and to secure a livelihood for himself and for his family whom well meet later. And him. But 1st we are off to siberia moving 5 and a half 1000 kilometers and a generation onwards to lake by con. Here we meet a woman who is also proud of her working life although it lies a while back. Stop it you. Both more each other via is 79 years old and for more than 20 years shes been retired like more than 40000000 others in russia but when she became the pensioner women retired at 55 and men at 60 since last year the retirement age has been raised by 5 years for both. Baba yaga as shes lovingly called by her family has been living on her own since her husband died more than 10 years ago you may think that she has plenty of free time on her hands but she isnt entirely alone in her house on the lake she has 4 dogs 5 cows 2 calves and 4 chickens to take care of that takes up much of her day. Even so she still finds time to pursue a passion of hers these ice skates from the 1943 can you imagine crazy 943 and i still use them. If they have. The steel blades can be fastened to her simple felt boots and they make lubov just as happy today as they did 70 years ago when she put them on for the very 1st time. Could. Be. To me. Yet i have to me ice means movement having someone to go. Oh that was very good its good that the credit i put on the run as an skater on the entire peninsula. Awful awful over. The peninsula is lyubov more a child of us homeland and the legendary bicolor. Vast mysterious and with a touch of melancholy. Like by karl is sometimes said to be a mirror of the famous russian song. Your boss says the lake gives her home and assurance. Plays by the coal is everything yeah i love to sing the songs about us when i was in. Benghazi move the wave stay im glad doesnt have to swim full of like its wonderful that. You believe says she is certain that mighty lake by count will grant her own land life at 79 years old she has just pass. The average Life Expectancy of russian women for men in russia the average Life Expectancy is 68 years 10 years less than in the e. U. But this average is rising due in part to falling alcohol consumption. Russians relation to death determines how our next protagonist makes a living we visit him in the republic of done in the town of tina shoulda 1400 kilometers east of moscow. More than 1800000 people died in russia in 2019 even in earns his living with a burial tradition that is popular here. He makes gravestones with pictures of the dead. The portraits show the deceased in the hey day of their lives yvonne makes and sells the tombstones directly next to the cemetery. All the products i make a special they hardly every day any more still. In russia a persons grey is a place where their life can be celebrated their social status wealth and popularity. Here the dead weather cheech years athletes managers and mafia are shown at their desks dancing making music or going for walks. Its a way of summing up their lives and yvonne babin creates a memorial to them. For eternity. This is what you know each eye is in grave here with a special needle big by bit of good you can ask that you become fat through the dirt but it took me a week to complete this headstone you know what each client is different when you know one says i want to square one i dont need any figures others tell me i dont like square one so i need Something Like this its a new naga for their poor cardinal from if it was through the everyone has their own taste their own vision that youre that this has been a tradition for generations i guess somebody thought it up it makes sense that the news. Events profession is in demand in russia with its aging Industrial Society today one out of 3 russians is over 50 and although the number of people who died in 2019 it was lower than the Previous Year the government has been raising the alarm and not enough people are being born in russia and the population is shrinking. Forecasts say that in 15 years there could be 12000000 fewer russians alive then today. Even back in sees himself as a mediator between the generations. That are gravestones of for the living there the grandchildren and great grandchildren are. Going to do to them my children will have me put on my headstone to tell the next generation this was your gran part of the give the script. At the gods how we commemorate was dead to be born of. Plague. From the same want to industry. The fire a steel plant in chatter projects. Steel is hard and durable. The stuff of russias stable future and. Presides over its production piece responsible for the safe operation of Blast Furnace number 5 for several young. Thats what im going to. Theres nothing romantic about it because i feel. First of all my job is physically and emotionally demanding anything can happen so i have to be vigilant all the time we get at them. And things do happen as in every industrial plant there have been a number of incidents involving several young. 12 years ago a device malfunctioned and caused a fire on the roof of the control room leaving one person dead and several injured and this year an explosion killed one of dimitris coworkers. And we men have always compared our Blast Furnace with a woman. To be used. You have to watch out how you approach or. There were times when my colleagues would shave before they shut down the furnace for repairs but. They wanted to make a good impression so that she wouldnt play tricks on them. If they can just move that sound silly. Thank you but its true that. For a long time russia has tried to modernize its economy and make its industry more efficient but in the past few years its growth rate has languished well below that of other emerging economies now the government wants to make the economy expand faster than the global average. Its putting nearly 370000000000 euros into Major International projects to improve infrastructure over the next 5 years by 2024 year president Vladimir Putins current term in office and russia wants to be among the 5 biggest economies in the world and be independent of foreign products for reasons of National Security says the kremlin. A country has to be able to defend itself to be independent. Without the Metallurgical Industry that would be unthinkable. Thats why our plant is so important to additionally we sell steel and earn revenue with it is what we create jobs pay taxes and raise russias prosperity. She however takes care of her own livelihood the more each other is an independent woman. I have a son a daughter and 5 grandchildren. They live in the city. The city is it could skip around 300 kilometers away and a 5 hour drive from the volves house but the resilient ice skater knows long distances from her childhood can clear were barely starting in the 1st grade i had to travel 4 kilometers to school and 4 kilometers back on my skates. What got this going off if there was no ice we had to walk and i did this school we kids didnt like that so much but there werent any cars so we had to go by foot. In the Circus School Service Corps although i cant tell you how many times i nearly drowned. Once 3 of us was skating home there was a crack in the arse for the well as the most style but i wanted to know where it started so i kicked at it with my skate and suddenly i fell into the water letting me sit in january. I just managed to reach out with my arms so the other girls could pull me out. My friend marcus said uber lets walk on the shore otherwise youll freeze the wind was freezing but in the forest it was warm. And so i headed home and walked in walked in arrived half frozen. When i got there my mother said where were you what i said i was it not good studying only doesnt matter. Finding a new boss house is not easy there are no signs or numbers only a narrow unnamed path leads to it. The nearest settlement is called b. L. M. Say its 60 kilometers away one and a half hours by car. Its a small town with just 4000. 00 residents half of them are ethnic russians the other half more yachts and indigenous mangala ethnic group. This part of siberia is one of the most economically disadvantaged areas in russia the official unemployment figure for the country is just under 5 percent here its twice as high in places was. The east. Video i dont have any natives but im not scared other people should be afraid of me i have a gun it doesnt shoot but i can get people with it. The way. From the peaceful spot in siberia that west to the settlement of. In the republic a quarter stand. It has just 4000 residents but 200000 graves. This is where most burials take place from the nearby regional capital a city of 1000000. Stonemason a van bommel. Lives next to the gigantic cemetery with his wife mary and their children we met at the cemetery. I was selling flowers i worked in the Personnel Department and on the weekends i sold flowers. That. It was just to make money on the side. That i would. He drove up in his delivery truck and asked me to marry him. And hes going to look at him youre selfish. I felt her energy and i knew she was the one for the major trouble but i want to start the why you. Even is not the only entrepreneur at the team a shell of a cemetery grave stones are made in many of the yards here and a sea of plastic flowers extends along the approach to the cemetery sold in 2 k. s these are guaranteed to stay fresh for a long time was. Funerals are a lucrative business in russia its one of the few branches of the economy that is scarcely regulated by the state. One of these gravestones costs 10000 rubles around 125 euros the equivalent of a months average pension the competition is stiff in this sensitive business. And my work has to do with peoples souls you know what i mean at the. At the Near Post Office its not like repairing a car for you. Because the gay and the clients come to me with their pain by crying. So they tell me everything and get that done but i take it all to heart and at such moments i feel what i do is somehow noble or a little. At the channel pov yet still melt they dont have time for nobility. At Blast Furnace number 5 dimitri can cause night shift is coming to an end. He takes a pragmatic view of his work to be there with a new boiled unwished if the plant didnt exist my life would be a lot harder than yes im healthy and i have a good head on my shoulders you know what the law i could travel and earn money elsewhere but it would be more difficult. I have to search a lot and move often. Not that everything here has been easy i pad to work hard every year to get a raise those who know me. Many people in chatter think like dmitri nearly one 5th of russias steel is produced here more than 35000 of the citys 315000 residents are employed in the steel business they earn an average 70000 rubles a month the equivalent of 900 euros nearly double what people are in in many other professions here in china pontiacs. To go at the the stable incomes and social benefits here are the reason people are peaceful the minutes agoo of the worry that you would theres no unrest or protest here. We have been accused of them knew the worst mr people around here earn a decent living for their work and they can count on getting their pay tomorrow and the day after hes up there with the posters of the scene there. But not all russians see their future so optimistically Living Standards are going down in the country 13. 5 percent of the population lives below the poverty line thats nearly 20000000 people according to a study by an independent only institute and 2918. More than half of 18 to 24 year olds want to leave the country more than at any time in the last decade but demitri can carve says its not an issue for his children. Im sure that i can paper my son if he wants to study at university. And i can look after my wife and daughter. But what does the situation look like for older people russia has more than 46000000. 00 retirees receive an average pension of 15000. 00 rubles a month or 180. 00 euros for many about especially in the cities thats hardly enough to survive on. Others like to you bob murray child of our say they cant complain the cost of living is lower in the countryside than in big towns. And barbara certainly doesnt have to pay for water when the sun is up she gets her from lake baikal the oldest and deepest freshwater reservoir on earth. Look at the stones. The water in the lake is so clean that you can drink it directly. In the skin said i dont have time to be all water theres always something that needs doing. But im not as strong as i used to be i have back pains from the hard work. Carrying water and shoveling out the manure is hard warble. And there was a bit right. Or half a century of more a child of art worked in a large factory. Like dimitri in a steel mill in cheddar pov yet she learned several technical professions on the job she worked as a puncher a welder a mother operator and later as a production and. There you are you dirty old things. Wait you know matilda come here my darling any way other than. Your boss remembers her working life in the soviet union as the happiest years of her life. Shes not alone in feeling that way nostalgia for soviet times is widespread in russia at the moment. A recent independent study found that 75 percent of russians you the soviet era as the greatest period in russian history. Oh i will be. Over oh it hurts my ribs are collapsing was the matter come on or fiji where were you. The moocher always shows up at meal times. And so do her friends. And. We leave this slice of bucolic life in siberia and return to the place where death is part of daily routine to the entrepreneurs at the cemetery. One of the rituals here is the open coffin it enables the relatives to see the face of the deceased for the last time. It was coming i. Feel. The final route to the graveyard is lined with small pine branches. And. Even bothering is familiar with all the rituals but where he works things are loud and busy. Several of the graves at the cemetery are being remodeled. We dont know the legal double of that. One to. Those of what is here to me about me because the ones on the other i want this job isnt for everyone because you think whats special about it its just a building site with cement but i find colleagues who had to quit after one day at a cemetery in most schools and to Business News or. Dismiss something mystical about any mystical. Mystical is a word which doesnt carry much meaning for the former factory employee and atheist new book of mormon children. Yes i think that i have serious here i think. I should. Just guess. That whatever notable rubbish. Once rubbish now that were going to church and all that the priests dressed in gold and silver its not for me i can stand all of that. World in the. But elsewhere the Russian Orthodox church is experiencing a rebirth after decades of suppression in the soviet era 65 percent of russians surveyed say they consider themselves believers. Church leaders claim that number is more like 80 percent in any case the strict conservative worldview of orthodox christianity is gaining influence in russian society. Is following. Years is. Severe. Or is a warning to the. Lord have mercy is the central prayer in the Divine Liturgy Services can last for several hours. While on the go or in going to war. Was. On. Her. Her. Linkages if you think about it logically theres nothing not there. Your soul doesnt fly up to heaven. You die and you eaten by worms. Who were mad means they are with. That means but live with a clear conscience live on astley and dont harm anyone then everything will be fine everything will be fine. With us but. Dmitri can carve says he lives in harmony with his conscience and with the state he believes in a strong russia and invalid email putin whom he considers a strong president. Putin has governed russia for 20 years and he continues to be the countrys most popular politician. So i. Saw him. Yeah i respect hooten 1st of all hes a real man like me. I have a mans job in a team of real men. In russia a real man is someone who is reliable and every aspect of life someone you can depend on. Someone who pursues their goals. Love this different i love my wife and my daughter but i respect i respect him for his and durrance his resilience and his voice spoke with. Alongside that praise for Vladimir Putin the man meets has a few critical words for russian politics. But. I dont want to go into geopolitical details about the reunification of certain parts of the land or other actions abroad yes. We have enough problems in russia itself like are dying for developing our farming. I dont want us to import cucumbers from china we should grow them ourselves like in soviet times will say. But dimitri does not want russia to be isolated from the outside world like in soviet times and he does not want that for his children. After a few generations time will be friends with other countries so and will respect each other. In this place which stands for past there are also thoughts about the future. At the moment in the Municipal Cemetery and. Its about the fate of an old gravestone which the van babin is replacing with a new one off and the families of the dead can only afford modest headstones immediately after the burial later they are replaced by costly or fancier versions the old ones are broken up and placed inside the grave. Oh. Look over the old headstone belongs in the ground. There it needs to stay in the grave. From. The new you cant just throw it into the trash heap right on. Russians are believers in a study carried out in 201742 percent of those questioned said they believed in life after death its no wonder that many people have a special relationship with cemeteries. A graveyard is a holy place. But theres no need to be afraid. Told by you should be afraid in the c. C. Not here not by a. Female but over in the steelmaking city you have chatter corvets dmitri can call also doesnt seem afraid. On the contrary he has found happiness here in his professional and his personal life. Is the signal to do it for the video cold work fine moved here in 1997 with a single back of his and now thanks to my job i have everything that you need to be happy. Car apartment as. I have a wonderful family and healthy children and relatives. See me and we are so i think im a happy man mr new my family is happy to. Live in a good country and life is good for some but they come 7 over all. Mug or just some of. Your stale gradually. The way out. 7 of order. By. You both mother children as home is a mixture of apartment and gotcha she has everything to make her happy according to dimitris definition. And more. About the yes well of course. Cream cheese and meat and this fish in the lake. Between gravestones and balloons to visit even bob and his family is to experience a blurring of the border between his professional life and his personal mission and that is what makes him feel fulfillment. But the question honestly i feel that my work brings me. Closer to god. That mind has been an excellent final statement for our film if it hadnt been challenged by the license from him pragmatism above what each other. From lake baikal. History would be a good thought and some people are never satisfied they think everything is bad you know what the you know the good one wants a lot of money another needs a palace to live in to the ski just 3 planks on a roof a person doesnt need more than that look you know that were all going to die one way or another even if you live in a palace but with us. And that ends our encounter with russia and 6 generations of russians between birth and death weve heard their stories full of joy and hold ups and downs stories full of life. And. Society faces a coronavirus meltdown is the crisis also an opportunity. Its focused attention on the problems of. Labor shortages overstretched health care. Spotty internet access. Is it time for a major briefing. In germany. In 30 minutes on t w. N during the conflict with tim sebastian. Lebanese Hezbollah Movement is condemned as a terrorist group by many countries for it also has a powerful political face was seats in parliament and government my guess this week from. A ruse is one of its politicians even reduce our weight how does the selfmade party of god reconcile its very different activities that conflict zone. 90 minutes on d w. Like. Oh. Mug or just love was food for the russian soul. Down here steeped. In so many different walks of life. Some are pumping and oddly im trying not all of them come straight from the heart its for our senior people for theres no more delusion the mushroom interests come. From their 1st glimpse of the long road to their final resting place the russians on g. W. Documentary. This is the dublin years and these are our top stories german pharmaceutical giant bio has agreed to pay up to 10900000000. 00 to settle claims surrounding its roundup weed killer since buying roundups manufacture among santo in 2018 by has faced numerous lawsuits in the u. S. Over claims the weed killer causes cancer. President trump says some of the 10000. 00 u. S. Troops to be withdrawn from germany will probably be moved to poland trouble