The investigation was conducted

Season 1

The documentary series investigates the USSR's most sensational criminal cases. Host Leonid Kanevskiy guides viewers through the intricate details of each investigation. Beyond the crimes themselves, the series provides a unique glimpse into Soviet society through narratives of daily life during that period. The series covers the entire Soviet era, from 1917 to 1991.

Where to Watch Season 1

32 Episodes

  • Кремлевский гамбит
    E1
    Кремлевский гамбитIn the summer of 1982, Yuriy Andropov raised the issue of poor food supplies to Moscow in the CPSU Central Committee. A big purge began, which was eventually targeted at the first secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU, Viktor Grishin. Many leaders of Soviet trade were detained on charges of embezzling socialist property, including the former head of Glavtorg Tregubov and the director of the Eliseevskiy grocery store, Yuriy Sokolov.
  • Ленька Пантелеев. Налетчик № 1
    E2
    Ленька Пантелеев. Налетчик № 1In the early 1920s, a raider named Leonid Pantyolkin, nicknamed "Lyonka Panteleev", appeared in Petrograd. He was engaged in robberies and murders. Militia managed to neutralize the bandit, but he soon escaped from the Kresty prison, but the militia established his whereabouts. During the second detention, Pantyolkin put up armed resistance to the militia and was killed.
  • Угрозыск против «Фантомасов», 1-я серия
    E3
    Угрозыск против «Фантомасов», 1-я серияThe 'Fantômas' gang, robbing state enterprise cashiers in black nylon masks in Rostov-on-Don since October 1968, crashed a stolen car fleeing a December 1971 heist; one bandit was badly wounded but they escaped.
  • Угрозыск против «Фантомасов», 2-я серия
    E4
    Угрозыск против «Фантомасов», 2-я серияOn June 7, 1973, after 18-month lull, the 'Fantômas' gang robbed a Southern Water Mgmt Inst. cashier in Rostov-on-Don, took 125K rubles and killed a witness; leaders Tolstopyatov bros caught after chase by officers Rusov and Saliutin.
  • Воздушные пираты
    E5
    Воздушные пиратыOn March 8, 1988, Irkutsk musician family Ovechkin, led by mother Ninel, hijacked a Tu-154 jet to flee USSR to London; crew tricked them into landing at Leningrad, where a raid led to most Ovechkins' suicide and survivors' arrest.
  • Игорь Тальков. Пуля для кумира
    E6
    Игорь Тальков. Пуля для кумираSinger Igor Talkov was shot dead during a St. Petersburg concert on Oct 6, 1991; initially blamed on Aziza's bodyguard Malakhov, evidence pointed to his manager Shlyafman, who fled to Israel, leaving the case unsolved.
  • Бунт отверженных
    E7
    Бунт отверженныхOn Aug 31, 1978, Kazan's industrial Teply Control district's 'Tyap-Lyap' gang (50 teens) rampaged in Novo-Tatarskaya Sloboda, leaving dozens injured and 2 dead; the years-long group terrorized the city with robberies and brawls.
  • Ограбление века
    E8
    Ограбление векаOn Aug 5, 1977, Yerevan saw USSR's largest bank heist: 1.5M rubles stolen from Armenian SSR's State Bank vault. Mastermind Nikolai Kalachyan, gymnast cousin Felix executed it; insider Zaven Baghdasaryan aided.
  • Капкан для интуриста
    E9
    Капкан для интуристаA West German was found murdered at a Moscow resort on July 20, 1980, day after Olympics' start; prostitute M. Lunina, aiding underground millionaire, spiked his drink with Clonidine during a robbery ordered by black marketeer lover.
  • Черная кошка
    E10
    Черная кошкаOctober 1945. Moscow is terrified by the ominous name "Black Cat". A gang of defense plant workers led by Ivan Mitin committed 28 robbery attacks on shops, savings banks and collectors and 11 murders. Ivan Mitin and two other gang members were sentenced to death.
  • Знамя Адольфа Гитлера
    E11
    Знамя Адольфа ГитлераBeginning on October 18, 1941, in besieged Leningrad, attacks on trucks with bread, vital for the city, began. The bandits killed the car drivers. As it turned out, the murders and robberies on the instructions of the Abwehr were committed by a gang of 12 former criminals led by a certain Kasharniy.
  • Гауляйтер Ленинграда
    E12
    Гауляйтер ЛенинградаIn winter 1942, Leningrad NKVD uncovered a Nazi sabotage cell led by agent 'Prince'; a meticulously planned op captured German agent Alexey Kruglov, who exposed 'Prince' as Third Reich intel officer Vasily Bagration-Mukhransky.
  • Охотники за бриллиантами, 1-я серия
    E13
    Охотники за бриллиантами, 1-я серияOn Nov 14, 1980, robbers stole part of a vast diamond and jewelry collection from writer Alexei Tolstoy's widow in Moscow; Smuggler Leonid Slepak organized it, hiring thief Anatoly Beca, who was caught but escaped mid-investigation.
  • Охотники за бриллиантами, 2-я серия
    E14
    Охотники за бриллиантами, 2-я серияAfter escape, Anatoly Beca was suspected of Moscow actress Zoya Fyodorova's murder and animal trainer Irina Bugrimova's robbery for diamond traffickers; tracked to Tbilisi, he was killed in an MVD special forces ambush.
  • Однажды в СССР
    E15
    Однажды в СССРOn May 11, 1989, Moscow co-op owner Sergei Simakov's young son was kidnapped by a racketeering gang led by a powerful party official; the gang had previously extorted Simakov and murdered his wife shortly before the abduction.
  • Владыка Кубанский
    E16
    Владыка КубанскийIn July 1978, KGB Chairman Yuri Andropov ordered a probe into corruption by Krasnodar leader Sergei Medunov, Brezhnev's ally; the years-long operation uncovered massive graft, leading to one of USSR's largest bribery cases.
  • Капкан для гастролеров
    E17
    Капкан для гастролеровOn Oct 27, 1971, armed robbers stole 60K rubles and killed a taxi driver during a State Bank cash-in-transit heist on Kazan's Dekabristov St; caught after 2 years, itinerant criminals were tied to similar USSR heists.
  • Великий Монгол
    E18
    Великий МонголIn 1971 Moscow, recidivist Gennady Karkov's 'Mongol' gang extorted state trade workers and robbed underground millionaires, sparking anger from thieves-in-law who accused him of violating their code.
  • Щипач
    E19
    ЩипачJuly 28, 1981. An unprecedented incident occurred in the Arkhangelskoye estate near Moscow - a diamond necklace was stolen from Galina Brezhneva, daughter of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Leonid Brezhnev, and after a while, the corpse of a famous thief in law was found near the estate.
  • Девушка-палач
    E20
    Девушка-палачSoviet secret police hunted 30+ years for female executioner 'Tonka the Machine-Gun Girl', who killed 1500+ in Nazi-occupied Lokot, Russia; Belarusian Antonina Makarova-Ginzburg was captured and exposed in the 1970s.
  • Любовь под кремлевскими звездами
    E21
    Любовь под кремлевскими звездамиMay 23, 1952. There was an arrest of General Nikolay Vlasik, the head of Stalin's security service. Many believe that it was due to Valentina Istomina, Stalin's housekeeper. The episode also talks about the wives and women of many party leaders.
  • Откройте, Мосгаз!
    E22
    Откройте, Мосгаз!December 1963. One of the first serial killers in the history of Soviet Union appeared in Moscow. After a short search, the killer of five people was arrested. It turned out to be a theater worker Vladimir Ionesyan. He was sentenced to death.
  • Красная бригада
    E23
    Красная бригадаIn 1980, a gang appeared in Kazan, engaged in robberies and murders. Its leader, Vladimir Pustovit, hid his accomplices under the guise of the anti-Soviet Red Brigade organization. Vladimir Pustovit and the chief executioner of the gang, Viktor Osipov, were sentenced to death.
  • Черный капитан
    E24
    Черный капитанMay 1978. In the south of the RSFSR, the disappearance of drivers with their personal vehicles began. Immediately 5 cars with bullet holes were found at the bottom of the Nevinnomysskiy Canal. After a long time, a gang of 4 was established. The bandits were brothers Dmitriy, Yuriy and Valeriy Samoylenko and Sergey Lezhennikov.
  • Сухой закон
    E25
    Сухой законOn August 22, 1987, near Moscow's Gorky Highway, five liquor trucks sent to quell an anti-alcohol campaign strike vanished; found robbed in a sand quarry four days later with their convoy leader and a driver murdered.
  • Возвращение Святого Луки. Современная версия
    E26
    Возвращение Святого Луки. Современная версияOn March 9, 1965, at Moscow's Pushkin Museum, previously convicted museum worker Valery Volkov stole Dutch master Frans Hals' "Evangelist Luke"; captured months later claiming collector Valery Alexeyev commissioned the theft.
  • Убить реформатора!
    E27
    Убить реформатора!October 4, 1980. Pyotr Masherov, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Belorussian SSR, died in a car accident on the Moscow-Brest highway. The car he was in collided with a truck at high speed. The truck driver, Nikolay Pustovit, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but was later amnestied.
  • Вор и актриса
    E28
    Вор и актрисаIn September 1983 Moscow, ex-con Vladimir Sivushkin murdered actress Viktoria Shestopalova and her black marketeer lover Nikolay Sokul at Belokamennaya station on orders of thief-in-law Georgy Gagabiridze.
  • Дело «Алена Делона»
    E29
    Дело «Алена Делона»In the late 1960s, a marriage swindler appeared in the Soviet Union. Across the country, he left dozens of robbed women, and killed one. After some time, the swindler was arrested. It turned out to be Yuriy Ladzhun. He was sentenced to death.
  • Коронованные воры
    E30
    Коронованные ворыIn 1992, riots swept through the colonies and prisons of Russia. This is how the underworld reacted to the death in the White Swan colony of the legendary thief in law Vasiliy Babushkin, nicknamed Vasya Brilliant. He was the last of the founders of the clan of thieves in law, along with Mishka Yaponchik and Naftaly Frenkel.
  • Курская аномалия
    E31
    Курская аномалияOn September 27, 1968, in Kursk's station square, AWOL conscripts Viktor Korshunov and Yuri Surovtsev massacred 13 and wounded 11, after murdering a family in a nearby apartment used as their sniper nest.
  • Игра на миллионы
    E32
    Игра на миллионыIn late August 1979, Tatyana Veremnych's card-sharp gang murdered a naval weapons engineer on the Leningrad-Simferopol train and later robbed a Moscow party official; both victims refused to pay gambling debts.

Cast of Season 1

  • Leonid Kanevskyведущий
  • Igor RomashchenkoDirector
  • Igor KholodkovDirector
  • David GamburgProducer
  • Erika GalimurzaProducer

 

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