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We, Christian Palestinians, sought shelter in a church in Saint Petersburg. The building was unexpectedly demolished, resulting in 17 deaths and injuries. We have no involvement in politics and just want to live in peace in our country. This tragedy is unbearable.

The library was nationalized by the first Soviet government, which had around 80-85 Jewish members. However, they made arrests and repressed Jews, Orthodox, and other religious groups, lumping them all together. These false ideological beliefs led to misguided actions.

I learned about the shocking events in the house from the internet. There were horrifying scenes of shooting and fire, resulting in the death of people. It felt like a terrible nightmare, and it was clear that Ukraine was not intending to resolve the issues peacefully. The next day, our protests grew stronger, and people were prepared for more forceful actions.

Icons were smashed on the ground, and people were barred from entering the church. Everything inside was ruined. People cried outside, unable to intervene. When a man tried to remove the bell, it fell and rang out, causing the people to weep and say goodbye, as it was the last time they would hear it. By 1930, only the Russian Orthodox Church remained.

The nationalization of this library was carried out by the first Soviet government, which consisted mostly of Jews. They made arrests and repressions based on false ideological reasons, targeting Jews, Orthodox Christians, Muslims, and others. Fortunately, these false ideological beliefs will collapse.

The speaker explains destruction was caused by tanks attacking because they were blocked in houses and needed to conquer back the settlement. No one survived in one particular house; nineteen people died, including eight children. From other buildings, many were rescued.

In the village of Sarada, the speaker asserts that the church has been absolutely desecrated by Israeli forces. The scene described includes graffiti on the wall, which is noted but deemed less offensive than other damage observed inside the church. The speaker highlights that pews have been arranged as if for soldiers to sleep there. There is trash scattered on the floor, including toilet paper, water bottles, and various condiments. Among the most offensive findings, the speaker emphasizes the desecration of religious figurines. Jesus is described as having his head cut off, with residents telling the speaker that this appearance seems intentional and not the result of an explosion or fighting in the village. The Virgin Mary is noted with her face seemingly cut off as well. Additionally, Baby Jesus is described as having his arm cut off. Throughout the account, residents’ impressions are used to characterize the acts as deliberate desecrations tied to the reported presence or actions of Israeli forces, alongside the described graffiti, trash, and the use of the pews for soldiers.

The Russian monarchy, rooted in Christian beliefs, prospered under the Romanov family until their murder in 1918. Freemasonry's influence led to the revolution, with the royal family brutally killed in a dark ritual. The bodies were dismembered, dissolved, and consumed, symbolizing a shift towards a new world order. Czar Nicholas II is now a saint in the Russian Orthodox Church, prompting repentance for his dynasty's downfall.

The speaker argues that the Bolsheviks were as brutal as the Nazis in at least two key ways: they made Christianity illegal and religion illegal, and they also criminalized criticizing the regime. They claim the Bolsheviks destroyed 40,000 churches and tens of millions of Christians, and note that “that’s who we sided with.” They critique how history is framed, saying narratives always start after the most horrific actions and focus on the response to those actions, such as events around October 7, the Warsaw Ghetto, or Russia’s expulsions, rather than addressing why those actions occurred. The speaker contends this approach skews the overall picture. They acknowledge that “The Bolsheviks were unequivocally horrible,” but they argue that people don’t learn about that history. The speaker mentions denial of the Armenian genocide and the Holodomor, suggesting there is a double standard: it is “okay for them to deny the Armenian [Holodomor],” but now, in about 30 countries, people can be arrested or imprisoned over related claims.

As Russian forces retreat from north of Kyiv, scenes of destruction emerge. Ukrainian authorities report flattened houses and believe bodies remain underneath. A mass grave in Bucha, shown by Ukrainian national police, is believed to contain up to 50 civilians killed during the Russian occupation. Vladimir searches for his brother, Dmitry, and believes he is buried there. A neighbor accompanying him accuses the Russians of hating and abusing Ukraine since the 1930s, with the intent to destroy and eliminate them. She asserts that Ukraine will endure.

People were thrown down the stairs.

The nationalization of this library was carried out by the first Soviet government, which had around 80-85 Jewish members. However, they pursued arrests and repression of Jews, Orthodox Christians, and other religious groups, including Muslims, based on false ideological reasons. They lumped everyone together. These false ideological barriers and misconceptions, thankfully, were eventually overcome.

The speaker says that the decision to nationalize this library was made by the first Soviet government, and its members were approximately 80-85 percent Jewish. They note that these leaders, guided by false ideological considerations, engaged in arrests and repressments of Jews, as well as Orthodox Christians and followers of other faiths, Muslims. They assert that they swept everyone under one brush. The speaker highlights that these ideological blinds and false ideological attitudes, they, thank God, ... (the sentence is left unfinished in the transcript).

They are aggressively destroying the cross, throwing it down and smashing it. The action is taking place on the first at 3:25, and then they move off camera to do the same to the ones on the right. Speaker 1 expresses confusion and asks why this is happening.

With the Russians entering, the situation has drastically changed. Many people are fleeing the city, and more will follow. People are seeking refuge in bomb shelters. This city is not like Iraq or Afghanistan, where conflict has been ongoing for years. It is a relatively civilized and European city, where such events are unexpected and undesired. Despite this, the people are not in denial.

In 1929, Stalin targeted Ukraine's church and intelligentsia, initiating the systematic liquidation of intellectuals. The communist regime arrested 5,000 scholars, scientists, poets, and artists for allegedly belonging to the SVU, a secret organization accused of planning an armed insurrection. Only 45 faced a public trial, with no evidence deemed necessary. Thousands were imprisoned, deported, and later executed as mass arrests continued throughout the 1930s. The church was also accused of involvement in the alleged plot, leading to the arrest, imprisonment, and execution of many priests. According to one speaker, 30 bishops and thousands of priests perished, and hundreds of thousands of faithful were liquidated. Metropolitan Vasily Lipkivsky and his two successors were arrested, and their fate remains unknown.

I'm taking you inside this incredible, beautiful, and powerful building, notable for its remarkable construction. The floor we're standing on is made of steel from melted-down German Panzer tanks. Visitors walk across the vanquished tanks, a symbolic act of victory while remembering the dead of that terrible conflict. Now, let's go inside to witness the magnificence and splendor of the main basilica. It's absolutely stunning. I won't try to narrate it; see for yourselves. Within this church, Soviet standards recall the Soviet Red Army, mixing two elements of Russian history. Saint Michael is here as well. This film can't do it justice, but it's an incredible place to visit if you have the chance.

Units were arriving and being sent to work. For some, these would be their final moments. Then it happened.

Icons were smashed on the ground, and people were barred from entering the church. Everything inside was ruined. The people cried out and wept, bidding farewell to the bell, which rang for the last time. By 1930, only the Russian Orthodox Church remained.

In 1931, when the speaker was 7, activists evicted her family from their house after her father's exile. The activists frightened the family and declared the house was no longer theirs. When the speaker's mother begged to stay through the winter, the men threw her outside. The mother told the children to stay in the house. The children held onto the benches, screaming and refusing to leave. The men removed the six children from the house one by one, throwing them outside.

This transcript threads together personal reflections, historical events, and the human cost of political upheaval across Russia and Ukraine in the early 20th century. Key points include: - A meditation on evil and destruction: questions about the source of great evil, whether darkness exists in us, and whether ruin benefits the earth. - Personal life and engagement: Speaker 1 describes seeing Alex for one hour, the sadness that work imposes on time with Alex, and being indescribably happy with her; Speaker 3 speaks of utter happiness and unity between two mortals; Speaker 1 recalls an engagement day as a hazy, unforgettable moment. - The 1905–1917 revolutionary context and violence: despite peaceful marchers, authorities panicked, backed Cossacks with whips and infantry; a second volley killed hundreds of marchers; radical press attacked the czar’s reputation; a telegram arrives at the palace leading to mourning; January 9 and March 15 dated entries note troops firing in the city, casualties, and political resolve. - Abdication and immediate reactions: Speaker 5’s grandfather reacts to the czar’s abdication for himself and his son Alexis, declaring “Russia is finished.” - Civil war and anti-Bolshevik movements: In the South, a White army forms against Bolsheviks. - The assassination of Nicholas II and family: It is asserted that Goloshokin, head of the Yakaterinburg Soviet, met with Lenin and others in Moscow; the killings were preplanned, with orders from Lenin to hide details; Dzerzhinsky allegedly directed suppression of information in Berlin via Alexander Joffe. The family is moved to a basement, confronted by 11 armed men; accounts describe the executions and the bloodshed. - Brest-Litovsk and territorial losses: The Bolshevik regime signs the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, renouncing territories gained over three centuries. - Family dislocation and exile: A family member recalls the abdication and exile, the shock and tears, and the sense that “Russia is finished.” - Famine in Ukraine (1931): Survivors recount eviction from homes by activists, resulting seizures and removal of families; women and children forced outside, with pleas to stay; survivors describe slave labor, loss of cultural and religious leaders, and relief efforts by international organizations and churches, though relief was hampered by the Soviet border. - Famine reporting and international response: Duranty, a prominent journalist, is criticized for lying about the famine; despite internal British discussions showing estimates of up to ten million deaths, the New York Times published favorable reports, influencing recognition debates of the Soviet Union. - Personal losses during famine: A spring scene of a dead little sister, mortuary practices with no coffins, and the struggle to bury her; survivors describe eating rotten cabbage, beets, and scraps; some rely on parishioners, railroad workers, neighbors, and even Soviet officials for food; the famine’s human toll includes starving children and widespread death. - Enduring memories of hunger: Descriptions of children with swollen limbs, convulsions, and the grim daily reality of hunger; the narrative closes with a bleak portrait of famine-stricken Ukraine and the resilience of those who endured.

The transcript claims a classified CIA document titled *National Cultural Development Under Communism* (first published June 1957, immediately classified, approved for release 08/24/1999) explicitly mentions “Tartaria,” and uses the document to argue that Soviet communist authorities interfered with Muslim and minority cultural life, including through suppression of religion, confiscation of mosques and literature, and rewriting history. The document is presented as beginning with a Bolshevik proclamation dated 12/07/1917 promising Muslims of Russia—Tatars, Tatars and related groups in Volga, Crimea, Siberia, Turkestan, Transcaucasia, Chechens, mountain peoples, and those whose mosques and prayer houses were destroyed—that beliefs and customs and national and cultural institutions would be “forever free and inviolate,” and that they should organize national life in complete freedom. The transcript states Lenin and Stalin promised equality, sovereignty, self-determination (including secession), abolition of national and national religious privileges, and freedom of development for national minorities and ethnographic groups, followed by Soviet suppression contradicting those promises. The transcript then details a sequence of repressive measures attributed to communists in the Muslim regions of Russia: confiscation of mosque lands (1918); outlawing Muslim religious brotherhoods (1921–1922); ridicule of Islam and undermining spiritual leaders; making Islamic religious life “virtually impossible” (1929); elimination of Islamic leadership via arrest and deportation (and “liquidation”); closing nearly all village and most city mosques; suppressing religious literature through alphabet changes, confiscation of religious texts including the Quran, and suppression of religious publications; dismissal of pious practicing Muslims from responsible positions. It cites a decline in the number of mosques admitted by Soviet authorities: from 7,000 mosques in European Russia alone at the time of 1917, to 1,312 mosques in the whole Soviet Union by 1942, with examples including Tashkent (from 300 to 20), Samarkand (from over 100 to 17, with only one usable), Bukhara (from 360 to one), and Al Maratha (no mosques remaining). It also states communist authorities condemned publication of Muslim literary works except those extolling Russian and Russians. The transcript returns to cultural heritage, arguing that communist interference extended to history. It describes a specific directive dated 08/09/1944 by the Central Committee of the Communist Party, instructing the Tatar provincial committee to conduct a “scientific revision” of Tartaria/Tatar history to eliminate “shortcomings and mistakes” of a nationalistic character by writers and historians, in order to remove references to “great Russian aggressions” and hide the “real course” of Tatar-Russian relations. It further claims historians in Muslim areas of the USSR rewrote history at party orders to portray Russians favorably, and that truthful histories were withdrawn and destroyed to deny Muslims and Tatars access to genuine accounts of the past. The transcript emphasizes that the CIA document’s inclusion of “Tartaria” in the 1950s is presented as important. In addition to the CIA-document discussion, the transcript shifts to historical geography research using early modern books and maps. It describes a “compendium of geography” released in 1691 by Lawrence Ecard and an additional world description (1715) with similar geography, suggesting they copied from shared sources while showing minor coordinate differences. The transcript quotes from the 1690/1691 geography text portraying “Tartary” as the “greatest country in the world,” lying east of Russia and north of Persia, India, and China, bounded by longitudes 83rd to 180th degree and latitudes 39th to 72nd degree, with an asserted length of about 4,000 miles and breadth about 2,000 miles. It states Tartary had ancient provinces (Scythia, Sake, Sogdania, and part of Cimatia Asiatica, plus some Old Persia) and had remained unconquered until “Anno eleven sixty two,” when the Tatars and “obscure people” overran it and elected a monarchy, with “a good part” later “fallen away.” The transcript discusses claims that Tartary is related to Mongol rule and uses the name “great sham of Tartary” as associated with China, asserting the emperor is “also the famous country of China.” It further claims that “Shambalu” (presented as the imperial seat) is not Peking/Beijing, proposing that commonly asserted identifications are mistaken. It argues using references to “Kambalu,” “Khanbaliq,” and “Kambaluk,” and compares placement with the Great Wall, claiming Kambalu is north of the Great Wall and that “Beijing/Peking” is south of it. To support its geographic argument, the transcript quotes from a printed book (1679) attributed to Tamerlane’s historian, describing a conflict involving Calyx and the city of Kambalu/Kambaluk/Kumbalu, and then describes an invasion of China beginning with references to “Liyotom and Pekin,” using repeated references to wall-crossing as evidence that “Kambalu” and “Pekin/Beijing” are presented as distinct. It maintains that if the same locations were involved, the narrative of crossing the wall and the sequence of revolt and conquest would not align. It then discusses plotting the claimed Tartary coordinates on maps and connects coordinate ranges to areas where Russian expansion and treaties (e.g., Treaty of Natchinsk) are said to have affected Tartaria’s location, arguing that exact location around the time of the document is “debatable.” The transcript develops further geographic assertions about “Cathay” versus “Manji,” stating that Cathay is north of the Great Wall and Manji is south of it. It references multiple maps (including those from 1689 and 1570) to claim “Cathay” corresponds to areas beyond the Great Wall and that Kambalu is located in Cathay. It describes river names and regions (including references to Obi and other rivers/lakes difficult to locate today), and it ties these claims to how Tamerlane is said to move to Cathay and then “jump the wall” into China. It then moves into “American Tartary” discussions. Using references from 1652 and other materials (including Uzziah Priest and later authors), it argues that some 17th–19th century sources used the phrase “American Tartary” (or “an American Tartary”) to describe areas in North America that resemble “Asiatic/Tartary.” It addresses claims that one map (1652) suggests Tartary-controlled North America by matching coloration but argues it does not indicate full continental control. The transcript then expands into multiple “lost city” and “gold” narratives (e.g., Quivera/Quivera stories tied to Coronado, and alleged connections to “King Tartarax”), also citing an 1851/1830s style literature tradition that portrays indigenous peoples as having Tatar/Scythian origins or characteristics. The transcript repeatedly states that learned people in the 1700s–1800s believed connections between Tatars/Scythians and indigenous North American peoples, tying this to Bering Strait crossing theories and various scholarly arguments. Later, the transcript returns to Greenland and ice. It begins with claims that satellite imagery appears to show Greenland as “completely” covered in ice, and discusses an asserted ice-free history: it states beryllium-10/aluminum-26 dating suggests Greenland bedrock was exposed for more than 280,000 years until about 1,100,000 years ago, and it summarizes claims of long-term ice-sheet coverage “for the last eighteen million years,” with periods of reduction. It argues that if Greenland’s ice disappeared, it would most likely appear as an archipelago due to bedrock depression under ice weight. The transcript connects this to references in older literature (e.g., Burton’s *Anatomy of Melancholy*) describing Greenland as frozen for “half the year,” and it discusses old maps showing possible passages or canals through Greenland. It claims forums and maps (including ones from 1747/1592 and later) suggest a central passage “formerly passable” but later choked with ice. It mentions a 1888 expedition by Friedrich Nansen and notes that Nansen’s planned route aligned with the location of the alleged canal. The transcript concludes by stating that its Greenland and canal information is attributed to external forums, and frames the central question as whether there could have been ancient ruins or a once-passable Greenland corridor, then transitions back to broader Tartaria/indigenous-origin discussions and ends.

The speaker discusses the impact of historical facts on Russian culture, particularly on traditional religious organizations. They highlight the destruction of family, culture, and national identity, as well as the influence on children's lives. The speaker mentions priests allowing various marriages and emphasizes that adults have the right to live as they choose. However, they point out that sacred scriptures of all religions define family as a union between a man and a woman, which is now being questioned. The speaker expresses concern about the church's plans and the spiritual decline it may lead to. They assert the need to protect children from degradation and ensure their well-being.

In 1929, Stalin targeted Ukraine's church and intelligentsia, initiating the systematic liquidation of intellectuals. The communist regime arrested 5,000 scholars, scientists, poets, and artists prominent during Ukraine's independence, accusing them of belonging to the SVU, a secret organization allegedly planning an armed insurrection. Only 45 faced a public trial, with no evidence deemed necessary. Thousands were imprisoned, deported, and executed as mass arrests continued throughout the 1930s. The church was also accused of involvement in the alleged plot, leading to the arrest, imprisonment, and execution of many priests. One individual recounts that their father, a priest, was among those who never returned. According to this individual, 30 bishops and thousands of priests perished, and hundreds of thousands of faithful were liquidated, including Metropolitan Wasyl Lipkiewski and his two successors, whose fates remain unknown.

Units were arriving and being sent to work. For some, these would be their final moments. And then it happened.