Peter Kosminsky's candid documentary about the Russian experience of their Afghanistan war, on the eve of the Soviet military withdrawal. This is a melancholy experience & I expect it will elicit sympathy both for military serving in foreign wars & their families at home. Although it details the Russian experience neither does it demonise their Afghan opponents. In the near absence of voice-over exposition Kosminsky is content to let the subjects speak for themselves; they are a thoughtful & reflective bunch. Presentation is quotidian & anti-spectacular. Like Kosminsky's Murder in the Ostankino Precinct this is very much a product of the Glasnost era, which encouraged notions of institutional transparency & public criticism in Soviet life. https://www.imdb.com/fr/title/tt0343351/