A humble history teacher Alexander Lvov, happily married to Anna, a woman with a child. His adopted son, 8-year-old Vanka, has long become Alexander's family. But here comes back from the army paratrooper Vadim Kotov, who served under the contract, Anna’s ex-husband and Vanka’s father. He wants to get his son back. In men, a serious conflict is brewing.
1988-1989. The end of the Soviet-Afghan war. The USSR begins its withdrawal from Afghanistan. Soviet General Vasiliev's son - a pilot named Alexander gets kidnapped by the mujahideen after his airplane crashes. As a result the 108th motorized infantry division's long awaited return home gets put on hold for one last mission: bring the General's son back. Based on true events the previously untold story of the courageous and tragic withdrawal campaign (through the Salang pass) reveals the danger the horror and the complexity of human nature during wartime.
The journalist becomes a victim of rape. To take revenge on the rapists, she makes a deal with the criminals. But things are beginning to unfold unpredictably...
Viktor Sergeyevich goes to America to visit his daughter and with horror discovers that his grandson Paul, although he speaks Russian, does not understand simple things that are familiar and understandable to every boy in Russia. Cheerless Armen is trying to gain a foothold in the United States, gradually comprehending all the delights of a fictitious marriage. For Yulia, who has long been established in the States, an unexpected problem is the inability to find a correctly prepared gefilt fish. Not so long ago, Igor moved to America in every possible way trying to disown his Russian past, calling himself Jason. It would seem that completely different people with completely different problems, but the adventurer George able to solve any problem proves that this is not so, all the heroes suffer from one ailment - they try to forget about their roots, missing the simple truth: you can leave Russia, but you can’t stop to be Russian.
The sea, August, interesting and simple people. They tan, swim, play volleyball, basketball, drink, dance and then find someone to spend the night with. Many grew out of their student phase and can afford a more comfortable holiday but when July comes they grab a tent, jump into their cars and come here. Here, nobody talks about work and the size of your wallet means nothing.
Ivan Mirosnikov, a cheeky young man in the Gorbachev era, is trying to figure out what to do with his life (he's not in college, and the 2-year mandatory military service is looming large ahead of him). Meanwhile, he lives with his divorced mother, and works as a courier at a Russian newspaper. Through his job, he meets patronizing Professor Kuznetzov and his rebellious daughter Katya. To annoy the professor, Ivan claims to have an affair with Katya. To his surprise, Katya backs his story up.
A talented girl from the provincial Russian town Pasha Stroganova dreams of becoming an actress. She plays the role of baba Yaga in the amateur theatre - and does it so organically that the visiting filmmaker offers her the most difficult role in the historical drama about Joan of Arc. She was given not only great acting talent, but the talent of deep, selfless love. A dream comes true: she is invited to the main role, and she begins a completely different life, full of real creative torment, insights and true happiness.
In December 1825, distinguished members of the Russian military, most of whom were quite affluent and of noble lineage, took it upon themselves to stir revolution against the autocratic and tyrannical Czar Nikolai I in the wake of his not honoring the drafting of a constitution for the Russian people. The revolution failed miserably and the conspirators (known as the Decembrists) were weeded out by the czar himself. One by one, each of the conspirators confess and are systematically exiled to the harsh winters of Siberia, slated to work and wither in a prison/mine. The wives of the conspirators are faced with the prospect of leaving the bosom of wealth and family (including their own children) to be with their husbands in the brutal Siberian locale. If they agree to this, they face having their illustrious social stations stripped away and certain disdain from everyone around them...
A zealous young journalist in the 1920s believes only in the Party and thinks love is bourgeois sentimentality - then he meets a pair of pretty girls who want to change his mind.