Russian president watches ‘28 Men’

Russian president Vladimir Putin has attended a screening of the movie ‘Panfilov’s 28 Men’ alongside his Kazakh counterpart in Astana capital city of Kazakhstan.

‘Panfilov’s 28 Men’ is the story of a unit of the Red Army that reportedly displayed unique courage defending Moscow in 1941 during the Second World War.

The unit belongs to the Red Army’s 316th Rifle division that was mostly composed of soldiers from Kazakhs and Kyrgyz.

Panfilov’s 28 Men are reported to have fought a column of Nazi German tanks in proximity of Dubosekovo village.

Using up to 1.7 million USD, the film displays how the Russian military group destroyed 18 tanks before all being killed; they were all awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

Several memorial monuments have been installed in honor of the group, including one in the Kazakh largest city of Almaty.

The film, written by Andrey Shalopa and co-directed by Andrey Shalopa and Kim Druzhinin, will be initially released October 20, 2016 in Germany.

While some consider this as a type of heroism based on a untrue story, the film’s producer Andrei Shalyopa states that such comments undermine the “moral potential” of Russia.