Checkpoint

A disabled child in the mountain aul bangs on a landmine with a hammer, triggering the device. The soldiers manage to scramble away, but the mine detonates and kills the child. The village crowd gathers at the blast site and closes in on the soldiers, signaling the start of the mounting tension.

In the scuffle, a distraught woman from the village disarms a soldier and opens fire, killing the local police officer while trying to separate the townspeople from the soldiers. A fellow soldier returns fire and shoots the woman in the legs, escalating the already volatile situation.

To remove the immediate anger of the locals, the platoon is reassigned to relieve a garrison at a nearby checkpoint. The move shifts their exposure from the village center to a more isolated outpost.

At the checkpoint, the soldiers fill their days with bets and improvised entertainment, trying not to dwell on how long their deployment will last. The routine becomes a coping mechanism amid the constant threat nearby.

A Chechen sniper harasses the soldiers from a dense forest nearby, firing at their positions and creating near-misses. The soldiers struggle to spot the hidden shooter despite repeated close calls.

The local townspeople continue to pressure the troops, vandalizing the checkpoint and dropping boxes of excrement as a show of intimidation. The soldiers endure a constant, uneasy presence from the community.

A local girl visits the checkpoint offering sexual services from her mute sister in exchange for ammunition. Some soldiers accept, paying with boiled ammunition that is rendered useless.

Krysa, the soldier whose weapon was used in the earlier incident, is arrested by the local police with approval from the Russian military. His commanding officer protests the move, but the higher authorities overrule him and Krysa is taken away.

Jurist develops a liking for the visiting girl and shares time with her outside the post. He wears a tail on his helmet as a talisman and asks a squadmate to swap helmets so he can camouflage himself to kill the Chechen sniper.

Jurist's squadmate's helmet swap leads to an approaching truck full of locals; he investigates after seeing something dropped from the vehicle and discovers Krysa's body wrapped in the skin of a sheep they had killed earlier.

Krysa is shaken by the discovery, removing his headgear and sitting down in disbelief. The revelation adds to the mounting tension and fear among the soldiers.

The perspective shifts to the sniper who has been hunting the soldiers throughout the film. The sniper is revealed to be the girl who visits the checkpoint to offer her sister to the soldiers.

The sniper mistakenly identifies Jurist as another soldier due to the absence of his talisman and shoots him dead. The moment marks a devastating turn as the hunter’s accuracy meets personal tragedy.