In a remote village in Karelia, Sergeant Vaskov commands an anti-aircraft unit that protects a rail depot. While his men are transferred to the front line, he is reprimanded for their unruly behavior. He retorts that he wants replacements that aren't drunks or womanizers. In response, he is assigned a unit made up entirely of young women, fresh from training.
In November, 1942, near the Volga, Stanlingrad is under siege of Commander Friederich Paulus and his 330,000 men. The Russian high command unleashes an operation to protect the Mishkova River to avoid that about four hundred tanks join Paulus' army. The Soviet artillery soldiers protect their position with their lives in a bloodshed with few survivors.
A boy from Leningrad has his world turned upside down by his parent's separation and World War II. He leaves town amidst the fighting and returns to find a friend in his step-brother. The war is seen through the eyes of children and told in flashback form. The film was a special prize winner at the Venice Film Festival.
Twin sisters Asya and Slavka dream of enrolling in a nautical school. After the first refusal, the girls go to Transbaikalia, get a job at the fur farm, make real friends, fall in love, experience all kinds of adventures and still dream of the sea.
