Ballad of a Soldier

A middle-aged farm woman walks through her village, her gaze fixed on the distant country road. A voiceover reveals that her son was killed in the war and buried in a foreign land. The scene establishes the emotional stakes driving the story.

On the Eastern Front, Private Alyosha Skvortsov asks for a six-day leave to see his mother and to repair the leaking roof back home. The general grants him the time, emphasizing practicality over ceremony. He accepts, setting out on a journey that will reveal the war's impact on civilians.

As Alyosha travels, he witnesses the devastation the war has wrought on the countryside. He meets weary civilians and soldiers along the way, and his path is marked by hardship. When the jeep he rides in gets stuck in the mud, Pavlov helps push it free.

Pavlov persuades Alyosha to deliver a small gift to Pavlov's wife, hoping to ease her loneliness. The only item available is two bars of soap, the entire supply for their platoon, which Alyosha accepts with a sense of duty. The act shows the war's strains reaching even the smallest domestic details.

At a train station, Alyosha carries a suitcase for Vasya, a wounded soldier who has lost a leg and wants to avoid going home. Alyosha's kindness helps Vasya reconsider his fear of being a burden to his wife. The encounter underscores the humanity that persists amid war.

Alyosha boards a freight car only to be stopped by Gavrilkin, a suspicious sentry. A can of beef bribes the guard, easing his fear of the lieutenant, a feared 'beast.' Shura sneaks aboard as well; when she sees Alyosha, she grows frightened and tries to jump off the speeding train, and he prevents her from risking her life.

Gavrilkin reports the unauthorized passengers to the lieutenant, who initially considers ejecting them. After a tense exchange, the lieutenant decides to let them remain aboard and even requires Gavrilkin to return the bribe. Alyosha and Shura's precarious voyage continues with this near-miss.

During a stop, Alyosha fetches water but the train departs without him. Shura disembarks and, in a private moment, confesses there was no fiancé—only an aunt. Alyosha realizes too late that she loves him as the train roars away.

The couple visits Pavlov's wife, only to discover she is living with another man. They leave quietly, and Alyosha takes back the soap he had given and instead offers it to Pavlov's invalid father, honoring their earlier pact. The moment reframes the value of small gestures amid war.

Alyosha's train is halted by a blown-up bridge and set on fire by German bombers, forcing him to abandon the railcar. With time running out, he constructs a makeshift crossing by rafting the river. He persuades a truck driver to give him a ride toward his village.

Alyosha reaches his rural village Sosnovka and sees his mother for just a few minutes before having to return to his unit. The reunion is bittersweet, underscoring the separation of soldiers from home. The mother promises to wait for him.

As the voiceover concludes, Alyosha could have gone far if he had lived, but he will always be remembered simply as a Russian soldier. The film frames him as a symbol of sacrifice and the civilian resilience visible throughout the war's reach. The final memory ties the personal loss to a national story.