Mauritius 1975: friendship beyond cyclones | RT Documentary

This is a film about the strength of the human spirit in overcoming great adversity. In 1975, tropical cyclone Gervaise struck the island of Mauritius. The storm raged for several days. Thousands of residents were left homeless, power lines were damaged, water supply was disrupted, and a significant portion of the island's main agricultural crop – sugarcane – was destroyed. The island lay in ruins, and life nearly came to a halt.

In the darkest years of the Cold War, the call for help from Sir S. Ramgoolam, the Mauritian leader, was heard. A rescue operation was launched involving all those whose ships were at sea at that moment. The cruiser Dmitry Pozharsky, which was on combat duty in the northern Indian Ocean at the time, set out for assistance, accompanied by the research vessel Sevan and the tanker Polarny. They had to cover 2,400 nautical miles. This was the first test of Russian-Mauritian friendship.

Our sailors arrived in Port Louis and immediately began providing aid to the island's population. In 12 days, under the tropical heat, the Pacific sailors restored 232 kilometers of power lines, connected hundreds of homes to the electricity grid, reestablished telephone communication, repaired the local hospital, and donated 32 liters of blood.

Cooperation between the USSR, now Russia, and Mauritius continues to this day. Many places associated with Russia and the memory of our sailors' heroism have emerged on the island. Additionally, many Mauritian students have gone to study in Russia.

The documentary piece by piece recreates those legendary events from memoirs of the participants and archive materials. Much of what is included in the film has never been shown before anywhere. The film creators visited the naval archive in Gatchina. They were the first to gain access to the ship logs, orders, and other documents. Based on the information obtained, they reconstructed the most comprehensive picture of those legendary events.