Leipzig in 1989 – Germany divided into East and West. The twelve-year-old friends Fritzi and Sophie don't care much about this - until Sophie has to flee to the West with her mother. There she struggles with prejudices against 'those from over there', but above all with her homesickness. Fritzi's attempt to at least bring Sophie her dog Sputnik fails because of the heavily guarded border. Fritzi realizes that only the fight for freedom in her country can bring the two of them together again.
In a remote village in Karelia, Sergeant Vaskov commands an anti-aircraft unit that protects a rail depot. While his men are transferred to the front line, he is reprimanded for their unruly behavior. He retorts that he wants replacements that aren't drunks or womanizers. In response, he is assigned a unit made up entirely of young women, fresh from training.
1944. German Colonel Neuber is taken prisoner trying to cross the front-line but not before he hides stolen Soviet documents. The Germans send a team to recover the Colonel and the documents but Soviet intelligence are waiting for them.