“At the height of the Cold War, a disillusioned Soviet officer fights to expose a secret doomsday system called Perimeter —“Dead Hand” — while a rogue general conspires with Chechen militants to hijack it, forcing the CIA, the Kremlin, and one broken father into a desperate struggle to prevent World War III.”

ACT I – THE SEEDS OF BETRAYAL
In a secret Ural research facility, Soviet scientist Nikolai Popov is executed by General Anatoly Koslov (Antagonist)for challenging the secrecy of Perimeter, an automated nuclear retaliation system designed to launch missiles even if Moscow
is destroyed. Colonel Dmitri Yarynich (Protagonist), one of the program’s architects, witnesses the brutality—and knows Koslov cannot be trusted. Four years later, tragedy strikes when a faulty anthrax filter at Sverdlovsk unleashes an epidemic. Dmitri’s wife, Veata, dies horribly, and the Defense Ministry covers it up as “tainted meat.” His daughter Zina grows up estranged, resentful of his secrets. By the 1980s, Perimeter is operational but hidden behind myth. Dmitri tends the Dead Hand communications bunker and its ominous shortwave station—the real “Buzzer” (UVB-76). Across the Iron Curtain, a Greek teenage ham radio operator records the strange signal, which also draws CIA attention.

ACT II – THE SHADOW WAR
Dmitri is abducted by Koslov’s foster brother Ludmil Sokolov and his cousin Alexi , Chechen militants with ties to organized crime. They threaten Zina’s life unless Dmitri supplies locations of Dead Hand’s critical sensors. Dmitri stalls, feeding scraps of intel to his old ally Sergei Vetrenov (Mentor), now a CIA contact. Meanwhile, Koslov manipulates Colonel Yegorov, a nervous officer overseeing nuclear weapons transport.

Yegorov secretly leaks schedules, knowing Koslov is trading nuclear assets for cash. Smuggling scenes unfold under foggy rail yards and shadowy exchanges: crates of currency swapped for canisters of warheads. At the CIA, Deputy Director Kraig Scholfield and veteran analyst Thornburg decipher UVB-76 messages—Perimeter is real. They dispatch operatives Griffin and Howard, ex-military snipers, to infiltrate the Urals and confirm. Their parachute drop and tower surveillance confirm not just missile silos—but rockets repurposed as emergency communications launchers. Dmitri tries to rescue Zina, but Ludmil executes her best friend Liliya instead, leaving Dmitri broken and vengeful. Natasha, Liliya’s grieving mother, demands he kill Koslov’s men in revenge.

ACT III – THE COUP OF FIRE
Koslov accelerates his coup. With Ludmil, Alexi, and Chechen bomb-maker Naseer, he plots to seize control of Dead Hand and ignite a new world order. In the Kremlin, President Orlov struggles to rein in hardliners; Koslov pushes for field commanders to hold nuclear launch codes. Dmitri and Vetrenov obtain proof—photographs and recordings—that Koslov and Ludmil are family, bound since the Chechen wars. Koslov raised Ludmil from the ashes of a massacre, grooming him as both weapon and brother. At the Dead Hand compound, Koslov forces Dmitri to activate the system at gunpoint while Zina watches. Zina turns against her father—believing he abandoned her mother—until Dmitri reveals Koslov’s lies. The truth shatters her loyalty. Koslov arms the launch case. Two Perimeter rockets fire into the night sky—intent on sending launch codes across Russia. Missiles stir. The Cold War edges to the brink.

ACT IV – FIRE AND BLOOD
CIA snipers and a ground team assault the compound. In the chaos, Dmitri and Zina fight to survive. Zina takes Ludmil’s pistol and avenges Liliya, killing Koslov in a fiery car explosion after forcing him to admit Veata’s death was “collateral.” But the rockets cannot be recalled. Dmitri admits: once conditions are met, Perimeter assumes the Kremlin is ash. Yet he has secretly misdirected coordinates; the rockets annihilate the very bioweapons complex where Koslov’s crimes began. Avenging Veata’s tragic death in the process. Dmitri, Zina, and Lutjy the dog are extracted to Poland. Vetrenov secures the Cheget (nuclear briefcase) as proof.

ACT V – FALLOUT
International fallout explodes: Russia blames Chechen terrorists. At Geneva, U.S. and Russian ambassadors clash over deterrence vs. doomsday. In a private retreat, President Reagan and Premier Orlov acknowledge Perimeter’s existence and vow dismantlement, each man burdened by distrust but reaching for hope. In exile, Dmitri and Zina adopt new identities as John and Lily Hamilton in the U.S. Vetrenov’s last package arrives with a photo of Veata and Orlov’s written acknowledgment of Perimeter. Father and daughter reconcile, the truth finally
shared. Zina asks the question that haunted her childhood: “What’s Perimeter?” Dmitri answers as he once did — “It’s a secret.”

To this day, Perimeter has not been publicly acknowledged.