– Vereschagin's life partner, a homemaker who balances his mental instability. Galina Luchai as Katerina Matveyevna, Sukhov's wife – she appears in the film only through Sukhov's dreams, to elaborate his character. Abdullah's wives Alla Limenes – Zarina Tatyana Krichevskaya, Galina Dashevskaya and Galina Umpeleva as Dzhamilya Zinaida Rakhmatova as Gyuzel Svetlana Slivinskaya as Saida Velta Chebotarenok (Deglav) as Khafiza Tatyana Tkach as Zukhra Lidiya Smirnova as Leila Zinaida Rachmatova as Zulfia Tatiana Fedotova and Tatiana Denisova as Gyulchatai – the youngest and most curious wife of Abdullah. She is the only wife who interacts with outsiders, i.e., Sukhov and Petrukha. Most of Abdullah's wives were portrayed by non-professional actors. As they wore burqas most of the time, they were often replaced by other women, and even by male soldiers from the military unit stationed nearby. Motyl shot a few semi-nude scenes involving some of the wives for character development, but those scenes were cut by censors. Honorifics The script makes use of different levels of honorifics in the Russian language. All locals are known only by their first names. Vereschagin is called by his last name by strangers and by his first name "Pasha" (short for Pavel) by his wife. Sukhov is called by his last name, often with an addition of a symbolic title "Krasnoarmeets" (Red Army Soldier) or "Tovarishch" (Comrade). Vereschagin initially also calls him Sukhov, but by the end of the film warms up to the less formal and more respectful "Fyodor Ivanovich" after Sukhov called him "Pavel Artemievich". Weapons Weaponry is explicitly used to characterize and develop the characters. Sayid is found barehanded in the beginning; he acquires all his weapons through the film and uses them skillfully. Sukhov gives him a knife, which Sayid later throws to kill an attacker. He shoots a carbine taken from a bandit, whom he strangled using rope as a lasso (while helping Sukhov). His skills in riding are demonstrated when he jumps on a horse, back first, while walking backwards and keeping his enemy at gunpoint. He then slowly rides away, sitting backwards on the horse. Vereschagin, despite having an arsenal of small arms, fights barehanded, which accentuates his brute force and straightforwardness. Both Sukhov and Abdullah use handguns rather than rifles, as appropriate to their leading, officer-like positions. Sukhov carries a Nagant M1895 revolver, a personal gift from brigade commander M. N. Kovun, whereas Abdullah uses a