Season 1

The film tells the story of Ivan Babushkin’s revolutionary activities. The plot focuses on his early years: his acquaintance with Marxist circles and his first steps in politically educating workers at the factories in St. Petersburg. We see Babushkin’s development as a convinced revolutionary, his cautious yet decisive work to create underground cells, his first arrests, and his resilience in the face of the tsarist secret police.

Ivan Babushkin finds his calling as an agent and correspondent for the legendary revolutionary newspaper “Iskra”. He becomes an “Iskra member,” a link between the émigré center and the underground in Russia, secretly smuggling copies of the newspaper and gathering information from the localities. His activities lead to his arrest and exile to one of the harshest corners of the empire — Verkhoyansk. The series depicts his life in Siberian exile, his ongoing correspondence with comrades, and his attempts to conduct agitation even in the conditions of permafrost.

After the end of his exile, Babushkin immerses himself fully in the tumultuous events of the 1905 Revolution. He becomes a key figure in the Irkutsk and Chita committees of the RSDLP. Special attention is paid to his work in the social‑democratic newspaper “Zabaykalsky Rabochy,” where his articles become a guide to action for local workers and soldiers. Babushkin participates in organizing strikes, rallies, and the creation of combat squads, becoming one of the recognized leaders of the revolutionary movement in Transbaikalia.

The culmination of Ivan Babushkin’s life journey was his leadership of the Chita armed uprising, the peak of the revolutionary wave in the region. The series provides a detailed account of his role in coordinating the actions of workers and soldiers, his attempt to establish revolutionary power in the city, and the tragic defeat of the uprising. The film concludes with an episode depicting Babushkin’s death: he was captured by General Rennenkampf’s punitive expedition and executed without trial, along with other rebels. His death becomes a symbol of the self‑sacrifice and unbending will of the Leninist revolutionaries.