Spring of 1944. The war is nearing its end. Thousands of concentration camp inmates were brought to the Normandy coast to repair the defenses damaged by Allied aircraft. On one of the islands, a small group of prisoners, led by Colonel Zakharov, prepares an uprising. The course of events was accelerated by an action taken by French prisoners of war. They barricaded themselves in the bunker and were ready, sacrificing themselves, to undermine the fortress.

The film is about the sailors who fought on torpedo boats in the Great Patriotic war.

The militia is looking for a dangerous repeat offender, Sobol, also known as "Artist," who's known to be linked to a fugitive from a penal colony and is preparing to attack a cash conveyor.

Soviet sailors boldly defend Leningrad from the German fascists.

A tavern on Pyatnitskaya street is a meeting place for all kind of criminals. The only way for police to infiltrate the criminals is to send an undercover agent to the tavern.

A copying error by a military scribe turns the Russian words "the lieutenants, however" into what looks like "lieutenant Kizhe". The Tsar reads the error, and wants to meet this (non-existent) lieutenant. The courtiers, eager to avoid the wrath of the temperamental Tsar, create a Kizhe to serve as their royal scapegoat.