The official version of the tragedy, which occurred in January 1943 in the small mining town of Krasnodon, was created on the basis of the famous novel by Alexander Fadeev "Young Guard". The novel was written under the watchful eye of Stalin, who gave the writer clear instructions and personally edited his work. It was Fadeev who made Oleg Koshov and his comrades an icon for several generations of Soviet youth - courageous, selfless, young patriots who are consciously ready to die for lofty goals.

In fact, according to the film's author, the interest in the Young Guard was in fact a well-planned campaign in which children (and the youngest of the 70 Young Guards killed by the Nazis were just 14 years old) were pawns in a big adult game. And the struggle for leadership between 16-year-old Oleg Koshov and a senior comrade was the beginning of the end of the "Young Guard" ...