Viktor Gordeyev

A Soviet cargo ship carrying medical opium gets attacked by pirates of an unknown nationality. The crew is left to die on a sinking ship but they manage to escape and now must fight the pirates for survival.

Four women—Redhead, Blackie, May Lily and Irina—survive 1990s Russia by luring wealthy drunks and desperate men into their flat with booze and promises, then robbing and sometimes killing them. Their hulking bodyguard Baban keeps their crimes quiet (and occasionally watches their secret lesbian parties). Even Blackie’s little daughter gets drawn into the fold, peeking through a crack in the wall. Together, they dream of escaping the post-Soviet grime and spending next Christmas in Paris.

Arkady Dolgoruky is the illegitimate son of a nobleman. Throughout his childhood he was brought up by strangers, his peers often teased him, and he grew up impressionable and vulnerable. As a young man of twenty, Arkady moves to St. Petersburg and joins the old prince as his secretary.