“If I hear another American saying: “Ah, Putin is a dictator and the Russians love autocrats, they are ignorant…” The Russians are deep, they are deeper than we are, they think things through in a deep and brooding fashion. And they are good people, they are kind people, they would take the shirt off their back to help you.”
Images of natural scenery. Then cut to the launch of a space rocket. Three astronauts go in that rocket: Jim Pruett (Richard Crenna), Clayton Stone (James Franciscus) and Buzz Lloyd (Gene Hackman). Back at base, Charles Keith (Gregory Peck) wonders if after eight months in space they could perform the easiest manual tasks. Once in space the astronauts take off their helmets. They lose backup for some reason. Keith decides to bring them down. A journalist (Vincent Van Lynn) explains about the retro-fire and their return. The mission Director (George Gaynes) decides that they need to use the primary thrust, because the secondary is damaged. The communications officer (Tom Stewart) tells the astronauts that. They use the retro-fire.
There's a tropical storm and the weather specialist (George Smith) says it'll complicate things. Keith wants to give the mission for lost, and gives an officer 48 hours to rescue the astronauts. They only have another aircraft which has never been tasted and an inexperienced crew. The rules say there should be no rescue mission.
Oxygen is scarce, and that's their main concern. Keith tells them not to do anything stupid... like trying to repair the engine!!! The astronauts take sleeping pills because the less movement and anxiety they have, the less oxygen they'll use. Buzz hesitates to have his.
The three wives arrive to say goodbye to the astronauts. Celia Pruett (Lee Grant) can't say that she loves him, although he says so. She talks about insurance and the house. For goodbye, they stayed silent. She caresses the screen. Teresa Stone (Nancy Novack) talks about his mission and a project she wants to do. Betty Lloyd (Mariette Hartley) tries to console Buzz, who becomes hysterical. She starts reading a letter she's written to the President (John Forsythe). He interrupts her and says everybody blames him because everything's falling apart.
The launch of the rescue mission can't be accomplished because of the bad weather. Keith speaks to the media. Journalists like Hardy (Mauritz Hugo) and Walter Brooke ask about another possible plan, and Keith says there aren't. An PR officer (Scott Brady) explains it.
Another plan is thought of. The computer technician (Bruce Rhodewalt) is already working on it. The astronauts are dizzy. The XRV has already been launched. It's insinuated that they should kill one of them so that the other two can survive. Before killing anyone, they'll try to mend the engine.
Jim's suit gets torn and he dies. Keith tells the news to Celia. A VIP (George R. Robertson) is tense. Rescue is close, so Buzz and Clayton decide to go for it and open the hatch door, although Huston disagrees. Clayton pushes Buzz towards rescue, but he seems to pass it; and Clayton falls dizzily back inside the rocket.
Ted Dougherty (David Janssen) rescues Buzz. Another astronauts gives oxygen to Clayton. He and Buzz have survived.
British mercenary Aiden Eslin, who surrendered in Mariupol, said that he served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine for four years.
First he was in the infantry, then in the landing, and spent the last months in the mortar unit.
He claims that when the special operation began, he refused to shoot, so he was sent to guard the checkpoint near the metallurgical plant. With him were a Moroccan, a Croat and another Briton.
He assures that he wanted to escape when the special operation of the RF Armed Forces began.
“On the very first day of the operation, I told the commander that I did not want to fight. I wanted to run away, but I could not do it because of the constant artillery shelling. Grads fired without stopping.
The commander told me that I could leave when we got to Mariupol. And when we ended up in Mariupol, we were told that we were surrounded, so I had to stay with the battalion,” said Aiden Eslin.
He added that he personally did not participate in hostilities, but simply guarded the territory.
“Whenever there was talk of a truce, they didn’t want to negotiate, they didn’t take steps that could stop the war, end everything peacefully.”
He also told during interrogation why he went to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and why he became disillusioned with the Kiev regime:
“I fought at the very beginning, when Ukraine was a good side. But then I realized that they were not making the right decisions that could help end the war...
When President Putin signed a decree recognizing the DPR and LPR, Ukraine had a choice - to withdraw from the Donbass. But Zelensky refused.”
German MEP Christine Anderson (AfD) had her voice silenced after exposing the corruption of Ursula von der Leyen’s crony vaccine contracts with Pfizer.
Anderson’s microphone stayed on until the moment she declared that a “parliament that covers up this corruption is just as corrupt — and is robbing...”
(Microphone turns off)
One man yelled that he wanted to hear what Anderson had to say, the request that was rejected.
This is "Western democracy values" for you.
At the airport, after a brief interview, he was taken away by the police.
The media reported that under local laws, he could face the death penalty for mercenarism.