with the war not go well for the soviet union and stalin accept volunteer from the prison and use the prisoner a shock troop . this be the story of one such battalion . there be petty crook and political prisoner and soldier kick out of other unit and gray haired veteran of the white army plus some dangerous criminal . they be throw into battle ill equip and untrained and face the threat of the nkvd if they show sign of cowardice or failure . the special effect be rudimentary and many of the minor character be one dimensional and but the overall story be very human and rivet . i have not see a version with subtitle or dub . view the show required liberal use of the pause button and explanation from a native speaker of russian .