Military history enthusiasts dressed as 1812 Russian and French soldiers take part in a staged battle to mark the 200th anniversary of Napoleon's army retreat from Russia across the Berezina River near the village of Studenka, about 85 kilometres from the capital Minsk, on November 24, 2012. About 50,000 people, soldiers from both sides and civilians, were killed during the crossing. In total of nearly half a million soldiers, from France as well as all of the vassal states of Europe, who invaded Russia in June 1812, barely 10,000 survived by the end of the campaign in December 1812.
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