The setting is the east shore of the Caspian Sea (today's Turkmenistan) where the Red Army soldier Fyodor Sukhov has been fighting the Civil War in Russian Asia for a number of years. After being hospitalised and then demobbed, he sets off home to join his wife, only to be caught up in a desert fight between a Red Army cavalry unit and Basmachi guerrillas. The cavalry unit commander, Rahimov, "convinces" Sukhov to help, temporarily, with the protection of abandoned women of the Basmachi guerrilla leader Abdullah's harem. Leaving a young Red Army soldier, Petrukha, to assist Sukhov with the task, Rahimov and his cavalry unit set out to pursue fleeing Abdullah.Sukhov and women from Abdullah's harem return to a nearby shore town. Soon, looking for a seaway across the border, Abdullah and his gang come to the same town...

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...

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...

War, 1944. Soldier Zhenya Kolyshkin, a fragile intellectual from Arbat, sets out on New Year's Eve to collect a parcel, but stumbles upon a German dugout. He manages to escape, but guard duty is inevitable. Zhenya's predicament is brightened by Zhenechka, a communications officer in the Katyusha regiment.

War, 1944. Soldier Zhenya Kolyshkin, a fragile intellectual from Arbat, sets out on New Year's Eve to collect a parcel, but stumbles upon a German dugout. He manages to escape, but guard duty is inevitable. Zhenya's predicament is brightened by Zhenechka, a communications officer in the Katyusha regiment.

A young girl Kseniya becomes a nurse in the Russian Army during the WWI.

A young girl Kseniya becomes a nurse in the Russian Army during the WWI.

The action takes place in the early 20s in a mountainous village in the Pamirs, where people live in almost primitive poverty and scarcity. A detachment of Red Army soldiers comes here. The commander tells the residents that from now on they will live according to the laws of the Soviet government. The squad soon leaves, leaving only one person. He organizes a school for the children and becomes its first teacher. For the first time, children see the globe and learn that the earth is round. And they are learning to read and write for the first time... Based on Mirsaid Mirshakar's poem "Lenin in the Pamirs".

Gendarmes arrest Vyacheslav, a free-thinking student. His friend Kirill gives his word of honor that he will release Vyacheslav from the dungeons of the Okhrana, but for this he will have to create a combat squad and engage in a deadly battle with the Black Hundreds - ruthless supporters of the monarchy.

A young student and a rich banker make a bet for two million rubles. On the condition of the wager, the student was to spend 15 years in solitary confinement.