The Battle of Berezina in 1812 was a significant moment in Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte's aborted campaign against Tsarist Russia, with French troops suffering heavy losses as they fled the pursuing Imperial army in the freezing winter.

More than two centuries on, rifle fire and cannon rang out again near the site of the conflict, in the town of Barysaw or Borisov in modern-day Belarus, as over 200 people took part in a re-enactment and simulated hand-to-hand combat.

But if France's expansionist aims were behind the original battle, the commemoration was also hit by modern-day Russia's own territorial ambitions in Ukraine.

Unlike in previous years, this year's re-enactment involved no one from western Europe -- a direct result of Moscow's offensive against its neighbour in February 2022 t

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