STAR MEDIA
Aleksandr Domogarov
Mikhail Porechenkov
Yekaterina Vilkova
Pavel Trubiner
Written by Igor Ter-Karapetov
Production director: Sergei Ginzburg
Score by Gleb Matveichuk
and Andrei Komissarov
First cameraman: Vasya Sikachinskiy
Art director: Yuri Konstantinov
Costume designers: Zhanna
Lanina, Kseniya Mavrina
Make-up by Anastasiya Ramlya
Casting by Yekaterina
Struchkova, Anastasiya Lenova
Edited by Olga
Proshkina, Irina Michurina
Sound producer: Leonid Shushakov
Post-production
producer: Artyom Yeliseev
Produced by Andrei Anokhin, Vlad Ryashin
Kill Stalin
Excuse me, I have an
urgent wire to send.
Sorry, I only have to ask something.
Nelya, is there anything for me?
Yeah, a flash just got here.
Oh, thanks a lot.
Is it from your wife, Comrade Captain?
Come on, now, I’d only marry you, Nelya.
What do you think
you’re doing, young man!
I’m sorry, I just asked.
This is ridiculous.
I’m sorry, I’m sorry.
I just asked and took the wire.
And you were about to marry.
Young lady, can you wire this for me?
My kids are waiting at home.
We have to take the man
to the designated area
and hand him over to our people.
A plane will take you
over the front lines.
You are not to talk to the
man you will be transporting.
Everything clear?
Yes, sir. We may need to
address the man on the way.
What shall we call him?
Call him Ghost.
I know, it sounds
like an operetta, doesn’t it?
But what can you do,
an order is an order.
Get ready, we’ll be there soon.
So here he deviates from the routine.
Here he sees the car.
Wait, wait, wait. Rewind it.
What did you see?
The reflection in the
mirror, did you see it?
Yeah, there’s something there.
All right, Dronov, take this
part for additional processing,
have them take the
negative and print photos.
You have it good, watching
around watching movies.
And I’m seeing double because
of all those fingerprints.
Have you found anything yet?
No. Comrade Captain,
Grisha is asks you to bring
the 16-meter film.
This one?
‒  Yeah, I guess.
‒  What’s on it?
I don’t know.
All right, take it, come on.
Zhenya, maybe you could help me?
Because of those filing cabinets I’m…
Of course, permission to go?
Go.
Is it far?
A couple of kilometers.
Alas, this Russia.
Zhenya, I want to go to the front lines.
What’s happened?
I’ve had it, I have to do
God knows what all the time.
And on the front lines
they are actually fighting.
Meanwhile, we’re trying
to catch those bastards,
and what? It’s no use.
What do you mean, no use?
We’re going to catch them yet.
Yeah, we’d better not be late.
You know, Zhenya…
I just don’t have the skills.
Like you do, for example,
or Comrade Captain,
or even Grisha Sapater.
No, I can’t even handle
this goddamn filing cabinet,
I’m looking at it as if it were...
You do have skills, and I’ll
help you with the filing cabinet.
Come on, put your dukes up.
They’re almost above us.
Tell them that the time
and the place stay the same.
Okay, we made the car.
It’s an M-1 car, the
driver is military.
Take a lot of photos like
this and go visit some cities.
Yes, sir. The car is clean, he
must not have come from afar.
There’s hundreds of cars like
that one in Moscow, anyway.
We don’t have a different
way to do it, or the time.
I’ve seen him someplace, that driver.
Remember where. Come on, come on.
I barely glanced at him, must
have been driving by or something.
What’s the matter, Senior Lieutenant?
Well.
No, I can’t remember,
sorry, Captain, sir.
I wasn’t doing it on
purpose, Senior Lieutenant.
Comrade Senior Lieutenant,
you’ve been in this group
only a few weeks.
Please act accordingly.
You’re not my commander to
tell me what to do, got it?
Zhenya, Dronov, calm down,
what’s the matter with you?
What the hell are you doing? Stop that!
Have you lost your minds?!
Stop!
Hurl all your effort
into finding that driver.
Send the participants of the
group to me in 15 minutes.
Yes, sir.
Good day, can you tell where
the commander of the third regiment is?
Upstairs, room 301, Major.
Thank you, good luck.
Major.
Right, Major.
Comrade Captain, I remember!
I remember, he’s the
driver of that Major
who then became the
District Commander’s aide.
You know, instead of the one who died.
Petrov, I think.
Yeah, he was in Letyagin’s apartment.
Right, I saw him there next to the door.
Dronov, put surveillance
on Petrov right now.
Yes, sir.
Well, good job.
So, Novitsky and I are
going to find that driver,
and you tell Sapater,
could be that it was Petrov
who went to Serebryakova’s apartment.
‒  Get to it, group.
‒  Yes, sir.
Password.
‒  Ghost. Reply?
‒  Gunther.
Ghost delivered, awaiting
further instructions.
They’re waiting for news
from you, the radio is there.
I recognize Hess’s style.
Clean it up.
Go on air, Lindshof. If
you’re Lindshof, of course.
Kind of a weird photo.
Doesn’t matter, do you know him?
Well, yeah, it’s
Sergeant Grigory Akhlakov.
He drives Major Petrov,
General Artemyev’s aide.
Where is he now?
Sleeping in the barracks.
They drove off in the middle
of the night with Major,
his master. Did they do something?
Can you walk me to the barracks?
And you call HQ, find
out about Serebryakova.
Yes, sir.
Where is the phone,
Comrade Senior Lieutenant?
Here, in the post.
Thank you.
This is where Comrade Major took me.
Told me to wait and left.
He went into this
courtyard, then came back and
told me to drive on, but slowly.
Was he waiting for someone?
I didn’t see, I was watching the road.
Have you been to this place a lot?
Yeah, that one time, we were
circling around the park.
And you didn’t ask what for?
We aren’t supposed to,
we’re supposed to drive
and that’s what we do, and
if we’re asked to stop, we do that, too.
Do you remember which day that was?
It was the 26th.
I remember it because it
snowed for the first time,
and I had old tires.
Letyagin was killed on the 27th.
Right, thank you.
Let’s go take your
statement. Start it up.
Based on the latest
information I suppose that
Major Letyagin was killed
so that Boris Petrov
could take his place.
He is Abwehr’s most
important agent in our HQ.
And Letyagin’s name was tarnished
to divert attention from us and
lead my group down the wrong path.
Next theory, Comrade Senior Major...
I know the rest.
What do we have on Petrov?
The driver’s statement?
That’s not enough.
There’s no time, Comrade Senior Major.
There’s no time.
I agree. We need to contact the HQ.
You do understand what arresting a
District Commander’s
aide means? It’s no joke.
Petrov is at the front
lines with the Commander now.
And what, you want to arrest him?
No, he’ll be watched there.
I want to search his office.
All right, you’ll get the permission.
Well, what can you tell me?
To get up propping yourself up
on the table is a good habit.
Well, I can tell you that he
hasn’t been to your apartment,
the fingerprints are different.
Comrade Captain.
There’s one more.
He’s afraid to live, Comrade Major.
Put it back in its
place carefully. You too.
There’s nothing else here.
Clean as a tear.
I’d like to search his apartment,
but his family is there.
When is the commander back?
He has a meeting at three o’clock.
Right, we’re leaving.
We’re leaving.
Get up.
Gentlemen, congratulations,
the operation has entered its final phase.
Get the radio and the rest ready.
Yes, sir.
Thank god, I was getting
tired of being stuck
in that smelly hellhole.
Agent Rose is close to failure.
What can we do?
You? Nothing.
It’s just that we can’t
count on agent Rose anymore.
Comrade Major, didn’t I ask you
to stop with that doorman routine?
Excuse me.
I’m waiting for you and the
papers in my office in a half hour.
Yes, sir.
Comrade Major, I have
some business with you.
Grisha!
Gena, get back!
Dronov, the door!
Comrade Major, lower your gun.
The bastard! We were late again.
Easy, Grisha. Easy, easy.
Get the doctor, quick.
Call a doctor, right now.
He was warned.
He was burning something.
There was one word on it: “Rose.”
‒  Grisha!
‒  Rose.
Grisha!
What is going on here? Who are you?
NKVD Special Group
Leader Captain Berezhnoy.
Comrade District Commander,
permission to report.
It was my fault, Comrade Captain. Mine.
We thought Grisha would distract him,
and the rest of us would arrest him.
And he… I don’t know,
sensed it or something.
It’s not your fault and
he never sensed anything.
He was warned. He said
the paper said “Rose.”
Who’s that Rose
bastard, Comrade Captain?
I don’t know, it could
be Petrov’s codename.
Tell me something, did Grisha
manage to figure out the prints?
Serebryakova’s fingerprints
still haven’t been found,
but we haven’t looked at the
political prisoners’ ones yet.
Grisha has finished that map of his.
He found some prints on the
chair and on the doorknob,
but those were some lousy prints.
And he hasn’t had time to
figure out whose they were.
We didn’t find this last time.
What?
Invoices. Building materials and fuels,
pretty big quantities.
Delivered to Kletino village area.
According to the road waybills.
But neither the invoices nor
the waybills are registered.
And what does that mean?
Good job, Zhenya. It
means, Comrade Lieutenant,
that a building of unknown purpose
has been built around Kletino village.
All right, Dronov,
gather all your people,
Novitsky and I are going
to find something out and come visit, too.
Yes, sir.
‒  Everyone, get to work.
‒  Yes, sir.
Are we going to tell Comrade Prokhorov?
No, he’s going to ask
the superiors’ permission,
and that takes a long time.
Get to work.
Yes, sir.
Can you tell me who worked here?
Only the soldiers did,
we just prepared the wood.
What are you doing, you dumb bastards,
gonna run us over!
I’ll write your dad on the front lines.
Tell me, did this man
coordinate the construction?
He came, he would come almost every day,
but I can’t tell you if he was the boss.
No, I can’t tell you.
And what road do we take to get there?
Come on, Dronov.
Well, they went straight
through the village,
and from there to the woods,
can’t tell you where they went from there.
Oh, thanks a lot.
Get in, let’s go. Start it.
Well, you know the drill, let’s go.
Oh, thanks.
Godspeed.
A military base. Weird,
why would it be here?
What are we going to do, Captain?
Halt! Halt!
Drop your weapons! Drop your weapons!
Hands up!
Ivan, lower your weapon.
Lower your arms.
This is a strange situation.
We’ve been here three hours.
I don’t get it either.
So suppose we discovered
this secret base, so what?
We all swore not to
disclose military secrets.
And if they don’t trust
us, why don’t they shoot us?
Don’t jinx it.
Shoot us, huh.
Ten-hut!
At ease. Say what you wanted to say.
Firstly: the military
base that we discovered
was built specifically
to accommodate the troops
that are going to take part
in the parade on the Red Square
on November 7.
Secondly and most importantly:
the brass believes that
the attempt on Stalin’s life
will take place at that same parade.
The bastards.
You do understand the
consequences of the assassination
if it succeeds? And the
responsibility we all bear?
Comrade People’s Commissar,
permission to ask Comrade
Senior Major something?
Comrade Senior Major, why
don’t we just cancel the parade?
The parade has political significance.
Comrade Stalin knows about a
possible assassination attempt,
but the parade has to happen
on the anniversary of the Revolution.
Comrade Stalin has faith in you,
he knows that you’ll foil your enemy.
I think the Leader is right as always.
Come with me, let
Comrade Berezhnoy work.
Yes, sir.
At ease.
Well, what do you think?
Well, at least we know
what day the attempt
is going to take place on.
Right, we only have four days.
Obviously the attempt
is going to be made
by one of the men on parade.
A sniper?
No. I don’t think they’re going to shoot
while surrounded by trained personnel,
most likely it’s going
to be an armored vehicle.
Remember the catalyst that
was stolen from the institute?
Of course. It could be used
to manufacture a projectile.
A shot at Lenin’s
Mausoleum from a cannon!
Think, comrades officers, think!
We’ll have to check every tank regiment.
How many of them are
taking part in the parade?
Right, here’s a list of the regiments
that are taking part in the parade.
This is the only copy of the
document, please be careful.
There’s not that many of them.
Yeah, but we only need
one man from this list.
These were written in by Major Petrov.
I know his handwriting.
33rd Tank Brigade.
Right, Dronov, here you go.
Continue the search for
Serebryakova and Ponomarenko’s group.
Yes, sir.
Sechin, check Sapater’s notes
about fingerprints in my apartment.
Yes, sir.
Novitsky and I are going to the HQ,
we’re going to check the 33rd Tank Brigade.
Everyone, get to work.
Comrades officers, come up, please.
Right. Anokhin, Leonov, listen up.
This is your area. You’re on
round-the-clock surveillance detail.
Got it? Report to me
immediately, is that clear?
Yes, sir.
Come on!
General Artemyev said that Petrov
served in this brigade himself.
And that he insisted that this
brigade be included in the list.
Maybe the sensible thing to do would be
not to let them take part in the parade?
There’s always time for that.
We have to find the
saboteurs, it’s our only lead.
I still don’t understand
how you can plant a stranger
into a brigade where
everyone’s fought side-by-side
for a long time.
That’s the thing, the brigade
was completely destroyed
in one of the battles.
It was formed anew recently.
Right, stop.
We have to try to find
something in Petrov’s apartment.
I don’t know, papers,
personal belongings.
What, did you get bogged down?
Set your wheels straight!
Comrade State Security Captain?
Permission to help you?
Well, you can try.
Come on, ladies!
One! Two! Three!
Come on, come on, come on!
Come on, come on, again!
One!
Thanks, ladies.
Glad to help.
Thank you.
Form up! March onwards!
One, two, three!
Come in, please.
Hello.
Hello.
Hello.
I asked my husband to
send us over the Ural,
he said that the Germans
would never take Russia.
Now I understand why he
didn’t want to let us go.
Tell me, where is your
husband’s work desk?
In that room, and the
keys to the drawers, too.
What is going to happen to us now?
We’ll see. We don’t punish the innocent.
Especially if they’re children.
Of course, who’s going to believe
that I never suspected anything?
Some documents and
letters, Comrade Captain.
Some of my letters are in
there, too. Very personal.
Don’t worry, I’m not
going to read your letters.
Easy there, this woman
just lost her husband.
I’m sorry, I’m just tired.
Do you want some tea?
We have some ration tea left.
Yes, thank you.
Look, there used to be a picture here.
Hey, girls.
Tell me, do you remember who
used to be in these photos?
Uncle Sergei.
Uncle Sergei.
Uncle Sergei.
The tea will be ready
in fifteen minutes.
Who did this?
Wasn’t me.
I didn’t do it.
I think there was a photo of my
husband and his academy classmates.
Gorchakov and Samokhvalov
were their names.
He served with Samokhvalov later.
Do you have any other
photographs of them?
Yes. Weird.
There should be a photograph
of Sergei Samokhvalov here.
My husband and I went to
visit him in the hospital,
and we took a photo.
When?
In August, a hospital in
Bogorodsk in Moscow Oblast.
Call the HQ, find out if
a Sergei Samokhvalov serves
in the 33rd Tank
Brigade. What’s his rank?
Captain.
You’re going to have to come with us.
Don’t worry, you’ll only have
to identify Sergei Samokhvalov.
Sergei Samokhvalov just
came back from medical leave.
He’s attached to the brigade
as commander of vehicle 141.
Get dressed.
Tell me, is this man Sergei Samokhvalov?
Yes, this is Sergei Samokhbalov.
My late husband’s friend.
Well, what are we
going to do? Arrest him?
No, take her to the office.
Come on, come on, come on.
Everyone out.
So you claim that this
man is Sergei Samokhvalov?
Yes.
I’m going to shoot you, German swine!
Look me in the eye, tell me the truth!
The truth!
‒  I am telling the truth.
‒  Look me in the eye!
What’s wrong with you?
Lower the gun. Lower the gun.
Easy, easy, easy.
Calm down, calm down.
What’s gotten into you?!
What do we have? Another false lead?
It’s easy to find it out.
We have to arrange a
meeting with Samokhvalov
and see if he recognizes her.
If he’s an agent, he has to know
what the people close to him look like.
Agreed, bad idea.
But I don’t think she’s the only one
who knows Samokhvalov.
We need to look in the archives.
We’re going to the HQ,
she’s coming with us.
Take her!
Let’s go, let’s go.
‒  Hello, comrades.
‒  Hello.
Take a picture of Samokhvalov,
urgently and in secret.
There’s going to be a
marching drill in the brigade.
I need lots of pictures.
Do you understand?
Lots, from different angles.
I understand the assignment,
permission to carry it out?
‒  Get to it.
‒  Yes, sir.
It’s all good, Ghost is ready to work.
Great. Tell them we’re laying low
until the end of the operation.
Got it.
Come on.
Thank you.
Come on, come on, get a move on.
Wait up, wait up.
Come on.
Thank you.
That’s it, let’s go.
I need Lieutenant Sechin.
Take the citizen to her cell.
The basement?
The basement.
Oh, and come to the office later.
Yes, sir. Let’s go.
Where?
Follow me.
Today we may have lost yet another lead.
I say “may have” because
I still have some hope
of turning the situation around.
For that it is imperative
that in the span of one day,
in Moscow, in the closest
Red Army regiments,
we find people who know
Captain Sergei Samokhvalov,
who is serving in the 33rd Tank Brigade
which is getting ready for the parade.
Look at all the archives
and interrogate everyone
who knew Petrov or his comrades in arms.
By the end of the day
I need all the people
who know or have seen
Captain Samokhvalov. Everything clear?
And Lidya Petrova?
Petrova identified the man
who is posing as Samokhvalov.
‒  How is that possible?
‒  I don’t know!
We need to check her statement.
That’s it, the meeting is over,
Senior Lieutenant
Novitsky is left in charge.
Yes, sir.
You’ll get your personal
orders from the commander.
At ease. Everyone is free to go.
Comrade Captain, I need thirty minutes to
draft an operations plan.
You have thirty minutes.
All right, I’m going to see Prokhorov.
What’s with the captain?
What do you think? He’s
nervous, there’s no results.
Not exactly. I have to talk to you.
Well, okay.
In private.
Comrade Captain, permission to speak.
I’m listening.
Permission to work on my
own, independently from
Senior Lieutenant Novitsky.
Is that why you stopped me?
Your ego is hurt? Your
ego has to be below zero.
That’s why we haven’t
gotten any results.
But still?
Go to Bogorodsk, to the
hospital, talk to the doctor.
We need Samokhvalov’s distinguishing marks:
scars, burns, cuts and so on.
Yes, sir, Comrade Captain. Thank you.
Colonel, sir, we have
a report from Hess.
Ghost has arrived,
the plant is a success.
Has the escort group gotten back?
Negative. Nor have they contacted us.
Hess’s report doesn’t
mention the group at all.
He killed them.
No.
Yes, I’m sure.
That psycho doesn’t leave anyone alive.
I think soon enough we’re
going to have to work
with those punks alone.
Here, read this.
Wow.
I didn’t dare show him this.
Yeah, that’s some story.
What do we do? We have to report this.
Let me report it.
I’ll wait for the right
moment and report it.
Zhenya, I’d appreciate that.
Come on, get your things
and let’s go to the HQ.
We’ll talk to Petrov’s coworkers.
Yep.
Yevgeny. I didn’t think you’d come.
Hello, Polina.
Or whatever your name is.
Does he know?
He knows. We all know
Polina Serebryakova is dead.
She’s dead? I didn’t know.
What a strange situation,
I’m telling you,
Polina Serebryakova, that you’re dead.
Berezhnoy doesn’t
trust you, neither do I.
I have to arrest you, but you’ve
come and I’ll keep my word.
Goodbye.
Wait. I have to tell you,
you’d understand then.
I have very little time.
Come on.
Get out of Moscow immediately.
Come on, Petrovich,
take her out. Let’s go.
Take the heavily wounded
closer to the operating theater.
I’ll be right there.
You’ve picked a bad
time to come, Comrade…
What’s your name?
Dronov.
Right, Dronov, I’d forgotten.
Look, Comrade Sorin, I’m
not playing games here.
This is a matter of national importance.
So this is how it is.
Maybe you could arrange it
for the HQ to fix our phones?
You have the authority.
Doctor, that’s not my
jurisdiction, I don’t have the time.
Sorry.
Oh, it’s okay.
Okay, prep this one
for surgery, prep him.
So, you were saying?
I need data on Captain
Sergei Samokhvalov
who was discharged from your
hospital around a week ago.
Okay, what kind of data?
Distinguishing marks. Burns, scars.
All right. Careful, careful.
Okay, I’ll arrange it in a second.
What did you say his name was?
Samokhvalov.
Samokhvalov. Okay, you wait here, wait,
I’ll be right back, don’t go anywhere,
after all, we’re in a...
Unconscious, take him to room ten.
Come on, guys, come on.
Hello, who is in charge here?
He is.
What’s the matter, comrades?
Hello, Comrade Doctor.
There’s been an accident on the bridge,
a truck fell into the
river, people have died.
Aleksandr Vasilyevich!
This is an infirmary, not a morgue,
what did you bring them here for?
Well, we weren’t able
to call your infirmary.
Or you’d send someone to us.
We need to document the bodies,
everything by the book.
Here’s the folder you asked for.
Yeah, thank you. Thank you.
Here, take this, this is your case.
All right, come on.
So, this one… the
entire ribcage is broken,
probably the driver.
This one… head trauma,
broken arm, broken leg…
come on, he didn’t die today.
He’s been in the water for about a week.
He was in the pond
along with everyone else.
I’m telling you, around a week.
The body was tied to the weight.
The car broke the rope
while falling down.
An officer, no papers. Disfigured face.
Doctor, look over the
body and compare it to
the notes about Samokhvalov’s marks.
Young lady, can I ask you something?
I’m listening.
Get back to the apartment, bitch,
and don’t you try to pull
anything without permission.
I don’t understand. Who are you?
Yes you do, Olya. Give me the papers.
Give me the papers.
Tell them someone stole
them at the train station.
Now go back home.
And don’t let me catch
you trying to escape again.
Go. Go.
Comrade Lieutenant! I found
these papers on the platform.
What is this?
The country is at war, and
you can’t stop pickpockets.
We’ll sort this out.
Yeah, do that. And be attentive.
End of Episode Seven
