“This is not a provocation; this is war” – WWII remembered

RT presents War Witness – a special project dedicated to the 65th anniversary of the Victory in the Second World War.

World War II veterans recount their stories about the war, how it began and what happened in the very first days of the fighting.

Belarusian partisan Anatoly Oleinik remembers June 22, 1941, when Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union. Early in the morning, when it was still dark, the tent camp of his battalion was fiercely shelled from the other side of the border. Many were killed in their sleep, and the Nazis had cut off their communication with headquarters prior to the attack.