There are too many dark spots in this tragedy. And to understand it, the author talked to participants in hostilities, to analyze what is happening, he also involved experts in a variety of competencies: from chiefs of staff and commanders to lawyers and people involved in the search for the dead.

In his film, the author restores the chronology of events: the storming of Ilovaisk, the invasion of Russian troops, the blockade, the exit from the city, and in parallel tells the stories of soldiers who were there and went through a lot to return home. The Kondrashov brothers took part in the Ilovaysk operation from the first days, survived captivity, and Serhiy Kovalenko hid among the corpses in the morgue so that the militants would not find him. About how it was, the viewer learns from the stories of the fighters and the staff with the reconstruction of events.