In 1990s Leningrad, a Russian man prepares to emigrate, but things don't quite go as planned—twists of fate, complex friendships, and the omnipresent KGB stand in his way.

When a Soviet state official attempts to coerce a celebrated poet into apologizing for a political joke he made, the official gets a taste of his own predatory medicine at the hand of the poet's vengeful wife.

Following the fall of the Soviet Union, a Russian man studying in the United States reconnects with his estranged, ludicrously Communist grandfather. Through letters, phone calls, and eBay, they bond over their shared experiences with death and Soviet life.

An American college student who studies Russian history heads to St. Petersburg at the the end of the Cold War and becomes attracted to her roommate's boyfriend, a former soldier. His stories, along with her interactions with other college students, add to her experience of a tentative social environment in post-war Russia.

In communist Ukraine, a canning engineer reports a heating problem in his apartment to his local city hall—only to learn that his building doesn’t exist in the city registry. He takes drastic measures to restore heating to his apartment.

As conflict rages between Russia and Ukraine, a woman struggles to get through to her friend caught in the middle of it.

A Soviet soldier tasked with watching over a German atomic scientist attempts to explain the circumstances behind his mysterious escape.

A Russian emigre calls a long-lost relative in New York asking for asylum. Her strange, self-sabotaging actions call into question her real intentions.

When a middle-aged German man receives a message from an old friend he knew in his youth, he travels back to St. Petersburg but cannot find him. He only finds mysterious bears wandering around the city.

A Russian girl looks forward to occasional visits by her mother's best friend. When the friend soon plans to visit with her new deaf and blind lover, feelings of scandal, anxiety, and curiosity emerge in the girl's family.