"Cranes" (Russian: «Журавли», romanized: "Zhuravli", IPA: [ʐʊrɐˈvlʲi]), first performed in 1969, is a famous Soviet and Russian song about soldiers who did not come back alive from battles. The song was composed by Yan Frenkel on translation of poem by Rasul Gamzatov and performed by Mark Bernes. The poem was originally written in Gamzatov's native Avar language, with many versions surrounding the initial wording. Its famous 1968 Russian translation was soon made by the prominent Russian poet an