Set between 1988 and 1989 in the closing stages of the Soviet-Afghan War, the plot, based upon a true story, centres around the men of the 108th Motor Rifle Division, whose withdrawal from Afghanistan is put on hold to rescue the kidnapped son of a Soviet general by the Mujahideen as a result of a plane crash, fighting their way through the Salang Pass and experiencing the hardship of war along the way.