The main shooting location in Archangelsk Oblast was the locality of Malozhma in the Onezhskiy District. This location lacked street lighting and it had no cell phone network. Moreover, right in the middle of the production, the village suffered a running-water outage for two days: the water-pipes ruptured right at the shooting location. Besides, during the course of the shooting, the crew burned a hole in a wooden bridge after building a fire on it in accordance with the script. Since it was the only link to other inhabited communities, the bridge was urgently repaired.
Despite this incident, the locals were very friendly towards the outsider cinema crew: they not only helped organize the shoots but also participated in the project as extras. Malozhma has a population of 400 people, most of them elderly.
Despite this incident, the locals were very friendly towards the outsider cinema crew: they not only helped organize the shoots but also participated in the project as extras. Malozhma has a population of 400 people, most of them elderly.
There are many wild animals around Malozhma. Once, the crew scared off a wolf pack. As for Viktoriya Isakova, she once encountered a lynx on her way to the shooting location.
The isle that served as the final destination for the characters was portrayed by the island of Kiy in Onega Bay in the White Sea. This part of the series was shot at the very end of its production in March and April. The reduced film crew of only the director, director of photography, and the camera technician risked their lives when walking between the mainland and the island on the melting ice. As for the shelter ship, it was built in the Lyubertsy quarry in Moscow, a very popular location among cinematographers. Among other projects, it saw the filming of Karen Shakhnazarov's Courier and Mark Zakharov's An Ordinary Miracle."
The shooting in Arkhangelsk Oblast was complicated due to the difficulty finding military equipment as the whole country was getting ready to celebrate Victory Day. The needed equipment, including the GAZ-66 vehicle ("Shishiga"), was found by mere chance at a tourist facility on Lake Onega.
The series was shot in 66 production days. Out of these, only six shifts were carried out in Moscow, only three in a studio, and only seven indoors. The rest was shot outdoors in the country. The nearest location was 14 miles away from Moscow. During the shooting, the temperatures dropped as low as -15°F.
This TV series reunites actors Kirill Käro (Sergey) and Eldar Kalimulin (Misha) who previously costarred as father and son in the TV series Better Than Us.