Tonya is a bus-driver in a village on the outskirts of Nalchik, a modest city in the republic of Kabardino-Balkaria. Together with her daughter, Tonya is eagerly awaiting the return of her only son, who is fighting for a Russian private military contractor in Syria. When Tonya is told that he has been killed in action, she refuses to believe it. She is sure that there was a mistake and her son is alive. She begins a grueling public battle with the contractor and the authorities, demanding the return of her son. When it becomes obvious that all efforts to silence Tonya are fruitless, a strange young man arrives on her doorstep...

1899, the Christmas-time St.Petersburg. Ice-covered rivers and canals of the capital seethe with festive activities. On the eve of the new century those who should not be destined to meet, come together. They are people from different worlds: Matvey, the son of a lamplighter, whose only treasure is his silver-plated skates; Alice is the daughter of a high-ranking official dreaming of science. Each of them has his own difficult life-story, but having accidentally met they rush forward together in pursuit of their dreams.

Police captain Pavel Semyonov serves in one of the residential areas of St. Petersburg. Pavel is used to breaking up drunken fights and entering drug dens alone to make another arrest. He knows that if he thinks and argues, he will simply be killed. And he is used to first acting, and then sorting it out, because he really wants to stay alive, because his wife Yulia and son Sasha are waiting for him at home. Risking his life, he saves the daughter of a businessman. In gratitude, Latyshev, the girl's father, facilitates the transfer of Pavel to Nevsky Prospekt, to the very center of the big city, where it is prestigious and profitable to serve ... And soon Pavel begins to suspect that his transfer to the Central District was carried out by Latyshev with some far-reaching plans. And when Pavel goes on the trail of a mysterious killer named Rafael, everything is completely confused. But in a difficult situation, Pavel can always rely on his friends from the sleeping area

Timothy Petrov is chosen as the new ataman of the Cossack village. He is approached by a businessman from St. Petersburg — Zaretsky — and asks to sell him stanitsa land for the construction of the plant. The previous ataman refused Zaretsky, because the Cossacks want to build a Church on this land. Petrov's daughter, Katya, lives in St. Petersburg and sings in a folk ensemble. One day at a corporate party Katya is kidnapped. She manages to call her father and say that is the village of the Hat. The girl is beaten and thrown out of the car. Petrov urgently comes to St. Petersburg. Close to the village of the Hat in the ditch, he finds a half-dead Kate. The ataman takes the daughter to hospital — she is unconscious, and doctors can't guarantee that the girl will survive. Now Petrov wants only one thing — to find abusers daughter and take revenge on them. And blood Yes good name Cossack and life is not a pity to give!

This is a story about the battle for a hospital building in Grozny (Chechnya) in January 1995 between Russian Army forces and Chechen rebels supported by Arabian mujahideen and international mercenaries. Although the story is fictional, most of the characters are based on real-life prototypes and events are the compilation of true events during the Grozny Siege in the First Chechen War.