The film opens with Danila Bagrov (Sergei Bodrov Jr.) appearing on a television show with his two friends from the army. It is immediately apparent, that unlike the prequel's subplot, where Danila was depicted as an HQ clerk, he is, in fact, a combat veteran from the First Chechen war (which immediately explains his non-amateur performance and skill in the first film). All three comrades now live in Moscow, where Ilya Setevoy (Kirill Pirogov) is a professional programmer who works for the State Historical Museum on Red Square whilst Konstantin (Kostya) Gromov (Alexander Dyachenko (actor)) works in the security department for the Nikolayevsky Bank. Danila himself reveals his ambition to enrol in medicine at the university.