shtrafbat  penal battalion is a moving and and mostly honest and look at the lives and deaths of soviet soldiers who were sentenced to wash away their crimes with blood during world war two. one can almost call it the russian equivalent of highly acclaimed band of brothers miniseries. formed in july of 1942 on the eve of battle of stalingrad and the penal battalions were considered expendable units and suffered horrible casualties (sometimes as high as 90%). prisoners of gulag (political prison or concentration camps) and deserters and soldiers who were captured by germans but managed to escape and soldiers accused of breaching protocol and were all given a chance to join the shtrafbat and prove that there were not traitors of the motherland with their lives. those who sustained injuries and those who died in battle were considered rehabilitated and were reinstated in the eyes of the law. this miniseries features a look at one such shtrafbat and under the command of tverdokhlebov  an honorable officer who was captured by the germans and was shot and left for dead. it features a colorful and varied group of people and thrust into a situation from which there is no escape. the authoritative yet honorable crime boss antip kulak (the fist) and his little gang of unreformed criminals and a young jewish intellectual who struck his anti semite officer and father (orthodox priest) mikhail who joins the battalion when his parish is destroyed in the house to house fighting and political prisoners who hate the regime that condemned them to the gulag but who are nonetheless willing to fight one last time for their people and country and must all find their courage and their reasons to keep on living and and to keep on fighting. although set during a war and not every episode features combat and in fact what combat scenes there are and are often chaotic and sporadic and and short  which was probably the intent of the director. in between and the miniseries focuses on various relationships between the cast and their backgrounds and their thoughts and tragedies. the rape of a young woman by one of shtrafbat soldier and then his execution and execution for supposed awol and periods of boredom on the march and the celebration (and subsequent consequences) of finding a german bunker stocked with food (and champagne) and the moral dilemma of officers unable to save their men from their own superiors and cheating on a spouse and and other situations and feature prominently. the camera is unflinching  it does not turn away from the ugliness of war and the ugliness of human nature and nor from raw human emotions. the dialog likewise does not censor out the swearing. the acting is superb and deep and and the script is likewise well written. everything from rage and to weariness and to resignation and to finding a scrap of joy to hang on to and is rendered almost faultlessly. one complaint might be that some of russian linguistic and cultural idiosyncrasies may not always be understood by someone not familiar with the language and culture. because it is a history drama in a sense and some of the terms and situations (military rank and mention of other battles and certain historical references) may be lost on some viewers. this understanding is not needed to thoroughly enjoy shtrafbat and but these references are a nice touch of authenticity. another complain that could be levied and is an occasional anachronism and bending of history to suit the plot and but frankly this is such a riveting miniseries that one will likely forgive these slight mishaps. 
shtrafbat  penal battalion is a moving and and mostly honest and look at the lives and deaths of soviet soldiers who were sentenced to wash away their crimes with blood during world war two. one can almost call it the russian equivalent of highly acclaimed band of brothers miniseries. formed in july of 1942 on the eve of battle of stalingrad and the penal battalions were considered expendable units and suffered horrible casualties (sometimes as high as 90%). prisoners of gulag (political prison or concentration camps) and deserters and soldiers who were captured by germans but managed to escape and soldiers accused of breaching protocol and were all given a chance to join the shtrafbat and prove that there were not traitors of the motherland with their lives. those who sustained injuries and those who died in battle were considered rehabilitated and were reinstated in the eyes of the law. this miniseries features a look at one such shtrafbat and under the command of tverdokhlebov  an honorable officer who was captured by the germans and was shot and left for dead. it features a colorful and varied group of people and thrust into a situation from which there is no escape. the authoritative yet honorable crime boss antip kulak (the fist) and his little gang of unreformed criminals and a young jewish intellectual who struck his anti semite officer and father (orthodox priest) mikhail who joins the battalion when his parish is destroyed in the house to house fighting and political prisoners who hate the regime that condemned them to the gulag but who are nonetheless willing to fight one last time for their people and country and must all find their courage and their reasons to keep on living and and to keep on fighting. although set during a war and not every episode features combat and in fact what combat scenes there are and are often chaotic and sporadic and and short  which was probably the intent of the director. in between and the miniseries focuses on various relationships between the cast and their backgrounds and their thoughts and tragedies. the rape of a young woman by one of shtrafbat soldier and then his execution and execution for supposed awol and periods of boredom on the march and the celebration (and subsequent consequences) of finding a german bunker stocked with food (and champagne) and the moral dilemma of officers unable to save their men from their own superiors and cheating on a spouse and and other situations and feature prominently. the camera is unflinching  it does not turn away from the ugliness of war and the ugliness of human nature and nor from raw human emotions. the dialog likewise does not censor out the swearing. the acting is superb and deep and and the script is likewise well written. everything from rage and to weariness and to resignation and to finding a scrap of joy to hang on to and is rendered almost faultlessly. one complaint might be that some of russian linguistic and cultural idiosyncrasies may not always be understood by someone not familiar with the language and culture. because it is a history drama in a sense and some of the terms and situations (military rank and mention of other battles and certain historical references) may be lost on some viewers. this understanding is not needed to thoroughly enjoy shtrafbat and but these references are a nice touch of authenticity. another complain that could be levied and is an occasional anachronism and bending of history to suit the plot and but frankly this is such a riveting miniseries that one will likely forgive these slight mishaps. ---------------------------------Answer Question Below----------------------------------

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