An old Russian grandmother or "babushka", who took part in the Battle of Stalingrad, sacrificed everything for her children and even sold her house to get money for her grandchildren, is shuttled among those very grandchildren--products of the "new" Russia--none of whom want her to stay with them since she's too much of a "burden" for them.

Yar is a place that keeps people, and they can't part with it. If they leave, they will die. The only one who wants to escape from the Yar is our main character Karev. But leaving the Yar, he thereby breaks with all traditional values, and unwittingly becomes the cause of the death of people dear to him...

A story about a very special summer in a life of twelve years old Mishka.