Brigada (), also known as Law of the Lawless, is a Russian 15-episode crime television miniseries that debuted in 2002. It became very popular in Russia and ex-Soviet countries as well as Eastern Europe, but received criticism for positive portrayal of criminals and aestheticization of violence. The miniseries follows the story of four best friends from 1989 to 2000, and follows their rise in the world of crime from a local gang of petty thugs to a true mafia, mainly concentrating on the leader of the group, Sasha Belov, played by Sergei Bezrukov. The fifteen-part miniseries were written by Igor Porublyov and Aleksei Sidorov and were directed by Aleksei Sidorov. Plot The film proceeds in chronological order, apart from the scene at the beginning of the first episode before the opening credits, which was taken from Winter 1997. Summer 1989 The film begins in 1989 when Sergeant Alexander (Sasha) Belov, (nicknamed Bely, or white) has finished his national service in the Soviet Border Troops, and returns to his home in Moscow. He is greeted there by his three childhood friends, Kosmos Kholmogorov (or Kosmos (Kos)/Space), Viktor Pchyolkin (Pchyola/Bee), and Valery Filatov (Fil/Phil). His return, however, shows that perestroika has deeply transformed the Soviet Union life and both Kosmos and Pchyola have turned to criminal racket on Moscow's markets. They try to lure Sasha to join them, but Belov abruptly refuses and instead has ambitions to attain higher education in vulcanology. Belov also learns that his former girlfriend, Yelena Yeliseyeva (Lena, Lenka) has become a prostitute. Enraged, Sasha ventures to the disco, and finds her there, but an attempted conversation is interrupted by Yelena's pimp, Mukha (Fly). Having earlier prepared for a likely fight, Belov strikes Mukha in the face with a brass knuckle resulting in fracture. Before Mukha's fellow gangsters have time to beat up Sasha, Kosmos, Fil and Pchyola arrive and rescue their friend. What Bely did not know was that Mukha has strong ties in the Militsiya — his cousin Lieutenant Vladimir Kaverin (Volodya). After Mukha's recovery, Kaverin agrees to cover the revenge against Belov, which is likely to result in death. Belov instead comes to the gang's gathering and challenges Mukha to a 1-on-1 fight, which the latter loses. The fight also ends Belov's relationship with Lenka. Unlike Pchyola and Kosmos, Fil instead is keen on pursuing a sporting career in boxing. His ambitions are lost when