Yakut family flies to Belarus to visit 'Stalin Line'


In the new issue of the program “Welcome to Belarus” you will meet the Androsovs family, who flew to Belarus from the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) — the largest constituent territory of the Russian Federation.

The 16-year-old Yan, along with his mother Olga and younger brother Pyotr, flew 10 thousand km to visit the memorials connected with the Second World War. Olga supports Yan’s fascination with a military theme, he has been interested in weapons since childhood, he draws battle scenes and collects military ammunition.

In the Brest Fortress, Yan met with Vladimir who sells military uniforms. He invited the Yakuts to the warehouse, where he, perhaps, will have a greatcoat of Yan’s size. The warehouse was a barn in the village. Relatives of Vladimir hospitably invite the Yakuts to the table, Vladimir gets out a pre-war gramophone, and Yan sings songs in the Yakut language.

The next trip is to the pillboxes of the Minsk fortification area. Expert and historian Anton Rudak took the Yakuts to the only aircraft shelter in Belarus, where there used to be four big guns. But the trip was not easy: the terrain changed over time, and even the local residents do not always know where to look for military unit.

But Yan’s biggest dream is to visit the so-called “Stalin Line”, where you can shoot from the machine gun “Maxim”, similar to the one his great-grandfather once used during the war. Despite the bad weather, the guy admires the military reenactment of “Operation Bagration”. But will he hear the true events of the terrible war behind the clang of arms?