Movie Profile: THE BALKAN LINE
| Attribute | Details |
| Title | The Balkan Line (Russian title: Балканский рубеж / Serbian title: Balkanska međa) |
| Country | Russia / Serbia |
| Release Date | March 21, 2019 (Russia / Serbia) • September 2019 (International) |
| Director | Andrey Volgin |
| Writers | Andrey Anaykin, Ivan Samokhvalov, Milos Biković |
| Producers | Gosha Kutsenko, Milos Biković, Vadim Byrkin, Vasil Shevts |
| Genre | War, Action, History, Thriller |
| Runtime | 151 minutes |
| Distributor | 20th Century Fox Russia / Archangel Studios / VMI Worldwide |
| Lead Cast |
• Anton Pampushnyy (Andrey Shatalov) • Gosha Kutsenko (Bek Yethoev) • Milos Biković (Vuk Petković) • Milena Radulović (Jasna Blagojević) • Ravshana Kurkova (Vera Kurkova) • Gojko Mitić (Goran Milić) • Emir Kusturica (Helicopter Pilot – Cameo) |
Trailer
Plot Overview
Set in 1999 during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia and the Kosovo War, the film dramatizes the real-life operation to secure the Slatina Airbase in Pristina before NATO peacekeeping forces could occupy it.
Following a disavowed clandestine operation in 1995, a disgraced former Russian Spetsnaz task force led by Bek (Gosha Kutsenko) and operative Andrey Shatalov (Anton Pampushnyy) is living off the grid in Kosovo. When Albanian warlord Smuk and his paramilitary forces seize Slatina Airbase—holding local civilians and doctors hostage, including Shatalov’s love interest Jasna (Milena Radulović)—the rogue Russian team is reactivated for a covert mission.
Outnumbered and isolated deep behind enemy lines, the small team infiltrates the airbase to neutralize the warlord’s forces and hold the strategic runway against waves of hostile fighters until a Russian armored column can march across the border to reinforce them.
