Russian actor about Brest Fortress: Every centimeter of land is soaked in blood
13:40, 6 September
Photo: BelTA
Every centimeter of this land is soaked in the blood of our loved ones. Even being here does what your land is supposed to do to you: it fills you with strength. People’s Artist of Russia Vladimir Mashkov expressed this opinion about Brest, which is one of the locations where the feature film His Name Was Not Listed is being produced, while talking to BelTA’s YouTube project On Point. Vladimir Mashkov stars in the film and is one of the movie’s producers.
- Share on Facebook
- Share on VK
- Share on Twitter
The production of the film inspired by Boris Vasilyev’s novel His Name Was Not Listed began in Minsk and continued in Brest.
“It is the first time I am in the Brest Fortress, in this great war memorial. But I had known a great deal. We’d been preparing for the movie rather seriously. And on the whole, throughout my life I’ve encountered a lot of movies where I had to act military personnel,” Vladimir Mashkov said.
He added that he knows quite a lot about events of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 since he has taken serious interest in the matter. In particular, he has managed to track his grandfather’s accomplishments during the war.
“My grandfather fought during the Great Patriotic War and captured Konigsberg. He was awarded an Order of the Red Star for it. An absolute hero. He didn’t talk much but I managed to gather some facts after his death. I understand he was a scout and he was in command of artillery units. In Konigsberg they captured four city blocks and 80 Nazi military personnel. I understand what blood and what losses they had to deal with,” the actor said.
“But you know, this land of Brest, the land of the citadel and everything around it… Every centimeter of this land is soaked in the blood of our loved ones. Even being here does what your land is supposed to do to you. It fills you with strength. It gives you an opportunity to understand what hardships these people went through. And this important compassion and empathy for them is probably what makes us human,” Vladimir Mashkov shared the emotions.
“Actually, I do meet a great deal of various people. But an overwhelming majority of the people I see and meet with are the people I am absolutely confident in. The guys, who defend our Motherland now as part of the special military operation [in Ukraine], are the people, who know what they are fighting for. And the people, who help on the homefront and worry about them. And the guys, who say that they cannot stay home and who go to offer a helping hand to their comrades. I’d like to live among that kind of people,” the actor concluded.
