Moldavia, USSR, ca August 1944. The Great Patriotic War (WWII). Over the past two years, the Soviet Army has retaken most of the Crimea, Ukraine, from the fascist Nazi invaders. Through the well-planned execution of Operation Chisinau-Iasi, they have just liberated the Soviet Republic of Moldavia.
One of the liberators is Red Army Lieutenant Andrey Besfamilnyy. He is a "razvedchik", an army scout. He is known as a dare-devil, immune to bullets. His last name -- both a Russian surname and a Russian word meaning "without a family" -- is the only thing about him that might hint at his childhood, spent abandoned and homeless, surviving alone in the streets.
He is the leader of a "razved-vzvod", an elite squad of reconnaissance scouts, specially trained to penetrate deep behind enemy lines, gather data -- uncover the enemy's positions, determine their strengths and weaknesses, and discover their plans -- relay that information back to their commanders by radio, and then, if they can, return alive.
The squad members, all from different backgrounds, have been fighting together for over two years. They are all fast friends. A perfectly coordinated team, they are so attuned to each other that they can finish their assigned tasks almost without speaking. Since they first proved themselves during the counter-assault by the Red Army in the Crimea some two years ago, their commanders have trusted them with the most dangerous and complex missions.
They are about to receive their most dangerous assignment. There have been reports of Soviet soldiers committing war crimes against citizens of Moldavia. Homes have been pillaged and burned. Women have been brutally beaten, raped, and then killed or left for dead. Old men and young children have been gunned down in the streets, murdered in cold blood.
A deep seated hatred of the Soviet Army is spreading throughout the citizens, and there is fear that there will soon be retaliations against innocent Soviet soldiers. Investigations have not been able to determine the identity of the perpetrators, though, but Soviet intelligence has begun to suspect that these atrocities are actually being committed by German soldiers dressed in Red Army uniforms.
Lieutenant Andrey Besfamilnyy and his elite squad of "razvedchiki" are sent to hunt down these Nazi war criminals, and bring them to justice, either dead or alive.