When kids start training at 10 oclock in the morning in st petersburg. Its 3 in the afternoon and were here both lives 4500 kilometers further east unlike by cut. Both live in russia the largest country to live after. A living but russias true greatness it is said lies not in its area but in its people there are more than 146000000 russians each with a story to tell. Stories full of hope and joy that brought out of sadness and anger. On our trip through this vast country we will meet 6 people from 6 different generations to live like. Live live each has much to town about childhood and youth about working and growing. About life in big cities and in tiny villages. About having children and about dining in russia. Through them we discover life in russia from birth to death. The touch. This time our journey takes us from the north west across the country. To siberia and then to central russia. At the cherub metallurgical combine days begin with an alcohol test. Its one of the obligatory Safety Measures at this company which is one of russias largest still works. Dimitri khan carved 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 molten crude iron. 13 and a half 1000 tons every day. A sub and i said whats 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 that a young because heat isnt very nordic. Victim is it her job is to give us the smelting product and crude iron. Bars or get baths the material we earn our money with it and were going to. Just next do it the crude or pink ira is clean. 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. So thats a symbol of that i started here when i was 20 right after the army yeah it wasnt a random decision sales of lamplight back then this was one of the best industrial plants you could work out in terms of their pay on the social benefits that but its still like that today but. Several young cap 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 some time. 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. Yeah its awful special as if im a steel smelter from head to toe 1st i worked as a smelter at the runoff then as a gas worker i watched them for ben i got further training and became a Plant Operator because of so im like a surgeon who operated every day and is only seen as special by outsiders for me this is every day routine supersensitive. With an output of more than 70000000. 00 tonnes per year russia is the worlds biggest steel producer need to become common is proud to be doing his small parts to contribute to that and to secure a livelihood for himself and for his family who will meet later. On. But 1st we are off to siberia moving 5 and a half 1000 kilometers and a generation onwards to lake baikal. 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 a pensioner women retired at 55 and men at 60 since last year the retirement age has been raised by 5 years for both. Bob or you 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 are ice skates from the 1943 can you imagine crazy 943 and i still use them. 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. Proof of. Your yes i was that you to me i said means movement having someone to go oh well that was very very good that. I put on the run as an skates around the entire peninsula folk rock fall off. The peninsula is lyubov more each other of us homeland on the legendary by county. Vast mysterious and with a touch of melancholy. By carl is sometimes said to be a mirror of the famous russian song. You both says the lake gives her home and assurance. Plays by karl is everything yeah i love to sing the songs about us when i was in. A magazine move the wave stay im glad doesnt have to swim far its wonderful that. You bob says she is certain that mighty lake by count will grant her own long life at 79 years old she has just had. The average Life Expectancy of russian women for men in russia the average Life Expectancy is 68 years 10 years less than any e. U. With 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 showed up 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 heyday of their lives yvonne makes and sells the tombstones directly next to the cemetery. But also. The prologue so i make a special because theyre hardly every day anymore 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 chairs 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 god each i grazed here with a special needle live by b. S. But did you ask that you could transfer proof of the he took me a week to complete this headstone each client is different when youre not 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 if its a new another for the poor the cardinal for 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 of 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 was lower than the Previous Year the government has been raising the alarm that most people are being born in russia and the population is shrinking. Forecasts say that in 15 years there could be 12000000 fewer russians alive than today. Even babin sees himself as a mediator between the generations. That are gravestones of for the living there the grandchildren and great grandchildren are. Going to digital my children will have me put on my headstone to tell the next generation this was your grandpa part of the deal of the. Farm and think thats how we commemorate the dead to be formed in place. From the same want to industry. The fire a steel plant in china 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. 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. And things do happen as in every industrial plant there have been a number of incidents involving say very 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. We men have always compared our Blast Furnace with a woman who has been 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. That they can use them or that sound silly. Thank you but its true. 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 the same way 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 as well we create jobs pay taxes and raise russias prosperity. She however takes care of her own livelihood the more a child is an independent woman. I have a son a daughter and 5 grandchildren as they live in the city. The city is it could skate around 300 kilometers away and a 5 hour drive from devolves house but the resilient ice skater knows long distances from her childhood can clear repair were starting in the 1st grade i had to travel 4 kilometers to school and 4 kilometers back on my skates. What god was going off if there was no ice we had to walk this way we kids didnt like that so much but there werent any cars so we had to go by foot. Most in the Circus SchoolService Corps court i cant tell you how many times i merely drowned. Once the 3 of us were skating home there was a crack in the arse well dr the well as the most oil pump i wanted to know where it started so i kicked at it with my skate and suddenly i fell into the water. In january. And i just managed to reach out with my arm so the other girls could pull me out. My friend marcus said uber lets walk on the shore otherwise you freeze it when it 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 to studying only the love of. 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 il and 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 hmong ethnic group. In 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 was. I dont have any neighbors 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. Fucking if. From the peaceful spot in siberia back west to the settlement of t. National in the republic of cortez than. 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 evander babin. 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 but that i would. He drove up in his delivery truck and asked me to marry him. And go look at dylan yes. I felt her energy and i knew she was the one for a major trip and whilst at the y. Your. Event is not the only entrepreneur at the team a shell of a cemetery gravestones 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 tension the competition is stiff in this sensitive business. And my work has to do with peoples souls you know what i mean at the. Its not like repairing a car. Because the young things the clients come to me with their pain by crying. So that they tell me everything. I take it all to heart and at such moments i feel what i do is somehow noble or. At the children of yet still melt they dont have time for nobility. At Blast Furnace number 5 in italy can cause nightshift is coming to an end. He takes a pragmatic view of his work to be there with the new boy in which to give the plant didnt exist my life would be a lot harder than yes im healthy and i have a good head on my shoulders and you realize that what the law and i could travel and earn money elsewhere but it would be more difficult. Id 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 and. Many people in jeddah think like dimitri 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 roubles a month the equivalent of 900 euros nearly double what people are in in many other professions here in china projects. Are no at the the stable incomes and social benefits here are the reason people are peaceful. For gould to worry that you would theres no unrest or protest here. We have any piece of them near 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 bosses up there see them. 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 2019 more than half of 18 to 24 year olds want to leave the country more than at any time in the last decade but dimitri can cough says its not an issue for his children. Im sure that i can pay for my son if he wants to study at university. And i can look after my wife and daughter. 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 are. Others like 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 by car the oldest and deepest freshwater reservoir on earth. You. Look at the stones. And the water in the lake is so clean that you can drink it directly. On the skin says just i dont have time to be over but 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. For half a century of moderate charge of art worked in a large factory. Like the tree in a steel mill in china pov yet she learned several technical professions on the job. Worked as a puncher a welder on the other operator and later as a production and. There you are you dirty old things. Wait 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 this soviet era as the greatest period in russian history. Oh boy will it be. Over oh it hurts my ribs a collapsing i was the matter come on off egypt where were you. The moocher always shows up at meal times. And so do her friends. With the full. Of it. And. Her beauty. 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 cough and it enables the relatives to see the face of the deceased for the last time. I hate to keep it was coming i. Feel. Come the final route to the graveyard is lined with small pine branches. Even bobbing is familiar with all the rituals but where he works things are loud and busy. Several of the graves at the team of a cemetery are being remodeled. But on other. Levels that. I dont. Want that. Those are what they cheer me about make of the one on the other i want this job isnt for everyone because you think whats special about it its just a building site with cement and but ive had colleagues who had to quit after one day at a cemetery in moscow and to Business News or. Something mystical about it mystical. Mystical is a word which doesnt carry much meaning for the former factory employee and atheist new ball of morning. I thought to. Myself i think. I might. Just think yes. That whatever notable rubbish. Wants rubbish what that what the church and all that the priests dressed in gold and silver its not for me i cant stand all of that. World the police do 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. You. Just fall into place where she. Uses you all to. Walk. With the lord. Lord have mercy is the central prayer in the Divine Liturgy Services can last for several hours. While all the op. Was on. Her. Cant. Leave it is if you think about it logically theres nothing up there. Your soul doesnt fly up to heaven. You die any written by words. And that means dealing with. That means live with a clear conscience live on a slate and dont harm anyone and everything will be fine everything will be fine. With us. Dmitri can carve says he lives in harmony with his conscience and with the state he believes in a strong russia and in bloody mr 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 you know i respect. First of all hes a real man like me. I have a mans job in a team of real men here 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 insurance his resilience and his voice spoke with you. Alongside that praise for Vladimir Putin the man mitri can call of 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 of broad yes. We have enough problems in russia itself like our dying bill is for developing our farming. I dont want us to import cucumbers from china we should grow them ourselves like in soviet times will seriously. 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 stand 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 bobbin 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 graves. Past. The requirement the old headstone belongs in the ground. It needs to stay in the grave. From. The new you cant just throw it into the trash heap right on. Russians on a believers in a study carried out in 27. 00 teams 42 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. Hold it quite well but you should be afraid in the c. C. Not here by a. Female but over in the steelmaking city you have chatter called yes dmitri khan called also doesnt seem afraid. On the contrary he has found happiness here in his professional and his personal life. Here is the signal the whole works by moved here in 1907 with a single back and now thanks to my job i have everything that you need to be happy. Hartmans. I have a wonderful family and healthy children and relatives are exposed to. See me and were sensitive so i think im a happy man mr and. My family is happy too but we live in a good country and life is good in some. Way come 7 over all of the mug or just some of. Your stay upright. Very the way out. 7 of order. By. You both mother children as home is a mixture of apartments and gotcha she has everything to make her happy according to dimitris definition. And more. The yes well acquainted milk is a cream cheese and meat and this fish in the lake. Between gravestones and balloons to visit yvonne 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 fulfilled. Longs for the 50 look at their perfect honestly i feel that my work brings me. Closer to god. That might have been an excellent final statement for our film if it hadnt been challenged by the license from him pragmatism of your boss what a child of. From lake baikal. Playing through it you get good some people are never satisfied they think everything is bad when the world will know the good one wants a lot of money another needs a palace to live in ski. 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 that voters. And that ends our encounter with russia and 6 generations of russians between birth and death weve heard their stories full of joy and hope ups and downs stories of life. Was the lead. Mobility in the age of corona as the pandemic changed the way we moved it was the safest way for us to get the point a to point b. C. Train. And hence the joy be taken out of transportation or can it still be. On the world during hard times read. If 13 d. W. In good shape. In the capture by a vaccine the top again due to the coronavirus of serious illnesses like all your the measles and could already be eradicated this movie. As possible access to the maps is missing this is me and vaccines impacts not only individuals from the whole of society who want to darken mine some good shooting. 60 minutes on d w. Im sure that of us as we are now. In support of. What saving. To bring about. 2 this is v. W. News alive from bell that the day of protests in the german capital to strike the coronavirus endemic berliner say yes take a pride. Because a player can almost there if we dont have to for a break call transphobia on homophobia and thats reason why would we all the most upright today and smear by others that they know to theresas out in double demonstrations against discrimination also coming up superstars turn up the volume to help the e. U. Raise billions into virus they