Act of War

After 5 years of war, Islamic State’s de-facto capital, Raqqa, has been surrounded. On the east side of the city, the road to Raqqa passes the base of the Kurdish women’s protection units and a base for foreign volunteers, as well as a field hospital. Our film crew came here to obtain exclusive frontline footage and talk to the people fighting ISIS militants.

South Sudan in Africa has been in a state of civil war since 2013. Hundreds of thousands of people have fallen victim to the ongoing hostilities. The desolation of war has brought famine to this normally fertile land. In this drastic situation, an international team at a Red Cross hospital in the town of Kodok fights to save the lives of those wounded, ill, or starving, as well as help reunite families separated by the conflict.

Ukrainian veterans of WWII have been caught up in conflict for a second time, 70 years ago they were children, now they watch their childhood nightmares coming back to life as younger generations ignore the bitter lessons learned so long ago.

As war rages on in Syria, many soldiers are badly wounded and have to face adjusting back to civilian life while overcoming disability. They’re forced to relearn simple tasks and have to work to provide for their families. Living a normal life is a daily struggle but they are determined to make it a happy one.

Two journalists - one American, one Serbian - travel across the former Yugoslavia to explore the human cost of NATO's 1999 military campaign against Belgrade and the media onslaught against the Milosevic regime.

Since war broke out in Syria almost 6 years ago, a whole generation of kids has never known peace. They’ve witnessed family members being killed and their houses destroyed. Many were wounded and war has robbed them all of their childhoods. With no end in sight to the bloody conflict, their futures are uncertain.

The Central African Republic's bloody civil war lead to the indiscriminate slaughter of civilians. Orphaned kids were recruited by both sides of the conflict, taught to fight, drugged and thrown into battle. After a ceasefire in 2015, the rehabilitation process began for many of them, but after all they’ve been through, they and their mentors face challenging times. 

In Russia and the CIS, World War II is known by a different name, the Great Patriotic War. In that conflict more Soviet people died than from any other nation. There were hardly any families in the USSR that had not lost loved ones. Today, the stories of the many who gave their lives in defence of their motherland are retold, using their own letters from the front. They don’t just talk of love, bravery and sacrifice but shed light on the scale of human tragedy suffered during WWII.

RTD with Miguel Francis Santiago, the author of “Crimea for Dummies”, go to Donetsk where a bloody conflict is in full swing. With contradictory information coming from the region, witnessing the situation first-hand is the only way to find out what’s really happening there.

In Syria, there are more than a hundred militant groups fighting against the State Army. Unusually, President Bashar al-Assad has offered an amnesty to militants who surrender. Any who haven’t completed mandatory military service are returned to the Army. RT Doc gained access to a unit comprised of amnestied soldiers.

They call it “The Grey Zone” – the village of Zaitsevo found itself caught between two warring sides: Ukraine’s Armed Forces and the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). Residents are hostages to the ongoing conflict; they sleep to the sound of artillery fire, never knowing if they’ll survive the night. 

ISIS oil trade documents, testimonies of local civilians and captured ISIS militants: RT Documentary crew visits Syrian oil town of Shaddadi just ten days after it was liberated from ISIS. Exclusive results of RT Doc investigation. 

50 years after the U.S. military intervention in the Vietnam War, the weapons it used continue to harm the local population. Unexploded mines still take lives and the consequences of “Agent Orange” claim new victims.

Every working day they risk being wounded, abducted for ransom or killed. They experience war first-hand while being armed with nothing more than mics and cameras. These are the stories of Syrian war journalists who survived deadly encounters and yet still returned to work. This devotion to their vocation is their way of helping the Motherland.

Colombia has been in a state of civil war for over half a century. The biggest and most influential of the rebel groups that oppose the government is the FARC-EP. Since 2012, it’s been in peace talks with the government. We met with the rebels (almost half of whom are women) to find out why they joined the fight and what their hopes are for the long-awaited peace. 

...Russia's warplanes remain among the most advanced in the world, both capable of striking targets on the ground and engaging in aerial combat. 

Five years into the devastating Syrian war, the country’s capital, Damascus is a shelter for the civilians who refuse to flee their motherland. Yet, even here no one is really safe as shells hit the streets and buildings regularly. Sameer is a local cameraman who continues his work despite its dangers. Through his lens, he shows us the everyday life of ordinary Syrians. 

RTD visits the Teykovo Missile Division to see Russia’s mobile nuclear missile systems “Yars” and “Topol-M” in action. Correspondent Vyacheslav Guz is guided through this previously highly classified strategic site and sees first-hand how soldiers in the missile regiments are trained.