БРЕСТСКАЯ КРЕПОСТЬ (Fortress of war) - DVD

The film opens on Saturday, June 21, 1941. Sasha Akimov, a 15-year-old musician, and his older brother, Alexander, whose parents were killed in the Spanish Civil War, are serving with the Red Army at the Brest Fortress. Elsewhere, a commissar, Yefim Fomin, discovers he is unable to bring his family to Brest due to a shortage of train tickets. Another officer, Gavrilov, continues to express concern of the readiness of the fort's defenses should an attack come, despite warnings from his friend, Vanshtein, about his statements regarding an imminent war with Germany. That evening, the fortress loses power due to German commandoes. The next morning, at 3:58, German forces invade the Soviet Union. The fortress is subjected to heavy bombardment by German artillery and aircraft, killing many Soviet soldiers and civilians. At 6:30, German infantry attack the fortress capturing hospital staff and patients many of whom they kill. Fomin takes command of the defenders around the Holmsky gate, while Gavirilov rallies the defenders around the Eastern Fort. Elsewhere, NKVD border guards under command of a Soviet Lieutenant, Kizhevatov, repel a German sortie into the fortress, and Vanshtein thwarts a German commando's attempt to undermine the defense of the 132nd NKVD battalion's barracks. As the siege commences, Sasha finds himself stranded in one of the barracks. During the fighting for the East Fort, Alexander Akimov is killed while destroying two Panzer IIIs with an anti-tank gun, helping Gavrilov repel a German attack......