It began with an accidental encounter on a train: filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova met a Ukrainian man about to leave his family and go to war - for Russia. Intrigued by his story and without waiting for any permit or permission, Trofimova joins him and his unit on their harrowing journey to the frontline. Many soldiers turn out to be very young. Some believe they are going to vanquish Ukrainian nazism, others believe in the cultural unity between Russia and Ukraine. Eventually, they all find out that everything they have heard in the Russian media about the war is false. They begin to doubt their purpose - and fight only to survive. This gripping documentary caused controversy - for instance, IDFA withdrew the film last minute and the screening in Canada was interrupted by an activist group that stormed in to the room - but remains a spellbinding tale of sacrifice and disillusionment in which soldiers resemble pawns in a nefarious game and with an acknowledgement of the human cost, also at the side of the aggressor.