ZVEZDA — broadcast
20260920 183000 UTC
388 transcript segments
Google Cloud Speech-to-Text API (Chirp) + Gemini 2.5 Flash Non-Thinking
Data courtesy of The GDELT Project (https://www.gdeltproject.org/), from the Internet Archive TV News Archive.
Machine transcription. Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a verbatim quotation record.

[00:00:00] The outstretched body of the driver,
[00:00:02] "Help!"
[00:00:06] is all he could
[00:00:08] utter before convulsing in his death throes.
[00:00:11] No one could have imagined that this was
[00:00:15] the beginning of a series of brutal crimes.
[00:00:18] A mysterious and sinister case would go down in the history
[00:00:21] of criminology. Only a few knew the whole
[00:00:25] truth about it. My heroes
[00:00:27] today.
[00:00:30] Mikhail Kaminsky, Deputy Prosecutor of Minsk.
[00:00:33] Colleagues value him for his intuition and determination.
[00:00:37] Vladimir Kolotov, prosecutor's investigator. Behind his back, he is
[00:00:41] called a bloodhound. He will track down a criminal from under
[00:00:45] the earth.
[00:00:52] One day in December 1982, an emergency
[00:00:55] call was received by the Minsk ambulance service. The call came from a building.
[00:02:00] They couldn't help the man. A few hours later, Kucherov
[00:02:04] died in terrible
[00:02:05] agony.
[00:02:09] A forensic examination was ordered into the mysterious
[00:02:11] death. Its results surprised even
[00:02:15] experienced doctors. Thallium salts were found in the body of the young
[00:02:18] man. A rare
[00:02:22] and incredibly toxic
[00:02:24] substance.
[00:02:27] Thallium affects the nervous system, skin, and
[00:02:31] kidneys - a very dangerous substance. Recovery can
[00:02:35] take several months.
[00:02:39] How did this rare poison get into the young man's body?
[00:02:43] This isn't rat poison. Thallium cannot
[00:02:46] be bought in a store. The method of murder resembled
[00:02:49] the plot of Shakespearean tragedies, but it wasn't the
[00:02:53] Middle Ages. It was the beginning of the eighties, the 20th
[00:02:56] century.
[00:03:01] In 1982, Leonid
[00:03:04] Brezhnev died. Yuri
[00:03:07] Andropov came to power. Now everything would be different in the country.
[00:03:11] The further development of friendship
[00:03:14] and cooperation among the peoples of the Soviet Union largely
[00:03:17] depends on the deepening of socialist
[00:03:21] democracy. Great Britain declares war on
[00:03:24] Argentina. The whole world will learn about the conflict
[00:03:28] over the Falkland Islands.
[00:03:31] And on the other side of the world, Iraq's war with Iran rages,
[00:03:35] with both sides using chemical
[00:03:36] weapons.
[00:03:41] The mysterious poisoning case was entrusted to experienced
[00:03:44] investigators, among whom was Vladimir
[00:03:47] Kolotov.
[00:03:49] That period of time was relatively prosperous in terms of
[00:03:53] the overall crime situation in the republic, including
[00:03:56] in Minsk. Therefore, any extraordinary events...
[00:04:30] Long before his death, her husband began complaining of a metallic taste in
[00:04:33] his mouth. It appeared after drinking a bottle
[00:04:37] of champagne with his colleague Igor
[00:04:39] Labanov. He also had similar
[00:04:42] symptoms. His wife advised her husband and his
[00:04:45] friend to see a therapist. The therapist, after examining
[00:04:48] the men, diagnosed them with avitaminosis. And
[00:04:52] gave the surprised patients
[00:04:54] ascorbic acid. Our doctors simply didn't believe
[00:04:58] them, that guys.
[00:05:43] was left in that theater, we found
[00:05:46] it,
[00:05:49] indeed, the poison was in the bottle, but how did it get
[00:05:53] there?
[00:05:56] Vladimir Kolotov was almost certain that the poisoned
[00:06:00] potion was a defect from the local champagne
[00:06:02] winery.
[00:06:04] Probably, they didn't keep an eye on it, and the deadly
[00:06:08] substance got into the batch of drinks.
[00:06:42] Children were confident in what they bought in
[00:06:45] stores.
[00:06:49] Deficit. I've almost forgotten that word.
[00:06:53] But it seems like it was only recently that I stood in line for
[00:06:56] cervelat, chickens and toilet paper,
[00:07:00] and I stood in several lines at once. Then
[00:07:03] I ran home happy. In my hands were bags with chicken
[00:07:07] feet sticking out and sticks of sausage. Over my shoulder -
[00:07:10] a bundle of toilet paper rolls. A funny
[00:07:13] sight, although the quality of the deficit
[00:07:17] sometimes left much to be desired, but for food to be
[00:07:20] poisoned, that was unimaginable
[00:07:23] in Soviet
[00:07:24] times.
[00:07:31] Mikhail Kaminsky sent inquiries to the regions and
[00:07:34] the capital. After some time, the
[00:07:37] answers came. No complaints were
[00:07:40] received, and no other cases of poisoning
[00:07:43] in other regions due to the consumption of these alcoholic
[00:07:46] beverages were recorded.
[00:07:49] The director of the factory swore that dangerous
[00:07:52] poisons, especially thallium salts, were not used in
[00:07:56] the production of wine at the enterprise.
[00:07:59] This means that the theory of a defect at the enterprise
[00:08:03] was false. But how did the substance get into the bottle?
[00:08:06] The investigation could not answer this question.
[00:08:10] Poison in champagne, that is, how?
[00:08:12] Champagne
[00:08:16] passions behind the scenes, decorations
[00:08:19] sometimes fall, a victim
[00:08:22] or a poisoner,
[00:08:25] but for some reason he didn't drink it
[00:08:28] himself.
[00:08:34] Forest fires are a dangerous and formidable element.
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[00:08:54] 3 weeks after her birth, we found out that Anya
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[00:09:07] helping, the tumors continue to grow. Today we are fighting for the life
[00:09:10] of our little one.
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[00:10:20] I might not live to see my adulthood. I was given a
[00:10:24] deadly, terrifying diagnosis: adrenoleukodystrophy
[00:10:27] of the brain. Lately, every day I try to hug him. I'm very
[00:10:31] afraid to lose him, afraid that this day
[00:10:33] will come.
[00:10:35] The disease can destroy Artyom's body in a short
[00:10:39] time. First, his vision and hearing will disappear,
[00:10:42] the boy won't be able to walk, and then to breathe. At any moment,
[00:10:46] new foci can appear in his brain. If he loses
[00:10:50] his vision and hearing now, they won't be restored later. We
[00:10:54] are afraid of not making it in time. Dear benefactors, please
[00:10:57] help us raise funds for a bone marrow
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[00:12:17] To be interested, to listen,
[00:12:21] to understand.
[00:13:55] Vladimir Kolotov was working on the connections of the deceased Kucherov,
[00:13:59] looking for those who might have wished him dead. It turned out that the man had
[00:14:02] started working at the drama theater just a month before his
[00:14:06] death. Before that, he had worked at another theater, the opera and
[00:14:09] ballet.
[00:14:12] Mikhail Kaminsky instructed to find out if there had been any
[00:14:15] suspicious events recently at Kucherov's previous
[00:14:18] workplace. Suddenly,
[00:14:21] one of the leading actresses of the theater remembered.
[00:14:26] Some time ago, a bottle of champagne appeared on her dressing
[00:14:29] table. From whom, it was unknown.
[00:14:33] The woman put the wine in the shared locker. A few
[00:14:36] days later, the champagne
[00:14:37] disappeared.
[00:14:43] This was a lead. Perhaps the poison
[00:14:46] was in that very bottle. The poison
[00:14:49] was not intended for Kucherov at all, but for the leading
[00:14:52] actress of the theater. Circle.
[00:15:29] Lyubov Rudenko knows about this firsthand. Her
[00:15:33] childhood was spent backstage. Her parents were famous
[00:15:36] actors, and the actress knows the price of fame and success in
[00:15:40] the theater well. An actor coming to the theater always
[00:15:43] comes to someone else's place. Nails are driven in from the back
[00:15:47] side, almost with the point inwards into
[00:15:50] the heel, or they sprinkle some horrors
[00:15:53] there. Falling on the stage was
[00:15:56] guaranteed. Some actresses had their
[00:15:59] dresses and props deliberately ruined.
[00:16:02] Truly horrific things happened.
[00:16:05] Decorations sometimes fall.
[00:16:38] Kolotov decided to thoroughly inspect the dressing room. In the actress's
[00:16:42] table, he found a note. Its content was
[00:16:45] unambiguous.
[00:16:50] You will be mine, you have always been mine.
[00:16:54] Understand, only I can make you happy in this
[00:16:57] life. Do not resist, otherwise you will
[00:17:00] bitterly regret it.
[00:17:03] The message was threatening, but who wrote it?
[00:17:07] Kolotov took handwriting samples from theater employees and
[00:17:10] sent them to handwriting experts. However,
[00:17:13] the experts just threw up their hands. The note was written by
[00:17:16] someone else, an outsider. The key to the puzzle
[00:17:20] was found in the
[00:17:22] message itself.
[00:17:28] They say beauty demands sacrifices. In Soviet times,
[00:17:31] it demanded them twice as much. The choice
[00:17:34] of cosmetics in stores was meager, so one had to be resourceful.
[00:18:05] My friend got the recipe. with glitter. In the evening, buy
[00:18:09] Christmas decorations. As they say,
[00:18:13] curtain.
[00:18:16] On the note from the unknown person, experts found traces of
[00:18:19] painting pencil and particles of powder.
[00:18:23] Could it be that the love letter was written by
[00:18:26] a woman? The case was getting more
[00:18:28] complicated.
[00:18:31] At this very moment, one of the theater workers, makeup artist Natalya
[00:18:35] Kurch, turned to Vladimir Kolotov.
[00:19:39] The man had clearly just woken up, wearing
[00:19:42] only underwear.
[00:19:46] The next moment, Ponomarev rushed down the
[00:19:49] stairs. The suspect ran head over
[00:19:52] heels. Here's the first floor. The man ran out into
[00:19:55] the street, but Ponomarev didn't get
[00:19:58] far.
[00:20:02] It's minus 15 outside. The half-naked fugitive somehow
[00:20:05] forgot about that.
[00:20:09] At the very first interrogation, Ponomarev stated that he knew
[00:20:12] nothing and wanted to know nothing. However, Vladimir
[00:20:15] Kolotov had a great desire to get to the
[00:20:19] truth. He had already found out that the detainee had been previously
[00:20:22] convicted twice.
[00:20:25] Ponomarev Viktor, 25 years old,
[00:20:28] unmarried, works as a mechanic in an bus depot, previously convicted of
[00:20:32] hooliganism and attempted
[00:20:33] rape.
[00:20:37] but Ponomaryov was pressured, he was told that a person had died, the charge
[00:20:41] would be serious, possibly even
[00:20:43] execution. After a moment of thought, Viktor
[00:20:47] confessed that he indeed had a passion for one
[00:20:51] actress, but she did not reciprocate, despite
[00:20:54] generous gifts. The last time he gave her a note
[00:20:58] with champagne through his sister. He wanted
[00:21:01] to find out if he had a chance, but to
[00:21:04] poison someone,
[00:21:05] never.
[00:21:10] Later, much later, acquaintances from the special services revealed to me
[00:21:14] a terrible secret. It turns out that thallium is a favorite
[00:21:17] means for political assassinations.
[00:21:51] No, there was clearly something wrong with
[00:21:55] this whole story.
[00:22:05] It turned out that at the deceased Kucherov's previous workplace,
[00:22:08] poisonings had already occurred.
[00:22:12] This happened six months ago. Two workers from the opera and ballet theater
[00:22:16] drank ordinary lemonade.
[00:22:20] And a few days later, their hair began
[00:22:23] to fall out.
[00:22:27] They were treated in a very original way. They explained that they
[00:22:30] consumed a fairly large amount
[00:22:34] of alcohol. Experts took samples from
[00:22:38] the victims. Again, that same rare
[00:22:41] poison. The lives of the unfortunate, strangely enough,
[00:22:44] were saved by self-medication.
[00:22:47] Alcohol partially removed thallium from the body.
[00:22:53] The victims of the failed assassination attempt said that their colleague,
[00:22:56] handyman Vladimir Mezinov, had given them the bottle
[00:22:59] of lemonade, but he insisted that he had
[00:23:03] killed no one and that the poisoned drink had come to him completely
[00:23:07] by chance.
[00:23:10] He found a bottle left by someone,
[00:23:13] a small bottle of 0.33
[00:23:16] of such lemonade.
[00:23:19] But... for some reason, he didn't drink it himself, but
[00:23:23] no one could confirm these words. The Deputy Prosecutor of Minsk
[00:23:27] gave an order to search Mezintsev's
[00:23:30] apartment. When Vladimir Kolotov arrived at
[00:23:33] the suspect's dwelling, he practically threw up his hands. The
[00:23:37] apartment was in complete disarray. It was immediately clear
[00:23:40] that Mezintsev was a bachelor.
[00:23:44] It seemed that in such a mess, nothing would be found, but
[00:23:47] suddenly a surprised voice was heard.
[00:23:58] Under the sink lay a small plastic bag, in it some white substance. Could it be
[00:24:01] that very poison? Doubts
[00:24:05] quickly dissipated when they found a torn label. It was
[00:24:08] just rat
[00:24:10] poison.
[00:24:15] A woman with a frying pan. I
[00:24:18] grabbed her arm and pulled her away.
[00:24:21] A chemistry student,
[00:24:24] death for a box
[00:24:26] of marshmallows.
[00:24:34] This is an FSB lieutenant speaking. Do you realize
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[00:28:07] To be interested, to listen,
[00:28:10] to understand. Radio
[00:28:14] Zvezda. Arming with
[00:28:17] knowledge.
[00:28:20] Do you mean that one of our employees is covering for your
[00:28:23] executioner?
[00:28:25] I warned you, those people will spare no one, not even
[00:28:29] her. Hello.
[00:28:39] on Wednesday and Thursday at 11:00 AM on Zvezda
[00:28:43] TV channel.
[00:28:46] Contract service is the choice of the strong. This is the work
[00:28:49] of a true patriot. Your country needs
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[00:28:57] become a hero of your
[00:28:59] time.
[00:29:12] Perhaps Mezinov is not a suspect, but
[00:29:15] a victim. It became obvious to us
[00:29:19] that someone was
[00:29:21] trying to poison
[00:29:23] Mezinov
[00:29:27] with lemonade and champagne.
[00:29:31] But who could hate
[00:29:33] an ordinary theater worker so fiercely and
[00:29:37] regularly give him poisoned
[00:29:39] drinks?
[00:29:47] Mezinov went through all his acquaintances, and even
[00:29:50] close ones, in his mind and shook his head. No,
[00:29:53] he had no enemies. And then he suddenly remembered.
[00:29:57] Some time ago, he had a big fight with his
[00:30:00] mistress. A record
[00:30:33] grain harvest, the general plan is being fulfilled. You turn on
[00:30:37] the TV in Soviet times, and it's the same
[00:30:40] thing. It seemed that families at that time also lived according to
[00:30:44] the general plan. For example, in the evening after work, I would always
[00:30:48] take out the trash. My wife also kept up, washing,
[00:30:51] cooking, and then the most responsible moment,
[00:30:55] curlers. To this day, a woman in such a state
[00:30:58] personally evokes...