Shooting began in Ukraine on May 15 in Kyiv and Lviv and will conclude in Tallinn in mid-July and is a collaboration between Estonia, Ukraine and Bulgaria. The series is expected to air in spring 2027.

The series takes place in both the modern day and the 1990s. After a storm, the remains of a young woman are discovered in an Estonian forest. It soon emerges that she was murdered in the early 1990s and remained forgotten for decades.

Director Ilmar Raags told ERR's "Ringvaade" that Ukrainian cinema, and culture in general, are booming in Ukraine these days.

"Most theaters are operating and breaking audience records. Living in culture is a form of resistance in its own way. When the Russians say that Ukraine must be denazified, what it actually means is that they want to Russify Ukraine and eliminate everything Ukrainian. That is why Ukrainian-language culture is something people very much want to preserve," he pointed out.

Filming in Ukraine ended on July 6, and Raag spoke about how Russia's continuous attacks on the country affected the crew.

One actor told him he often gets a better night's sleep in Kyiv than in Tallinn.

"He and his wife have a habit of getting into their car, taking a sleeping bag with them and driving to an underground parking garage on nights when they know another attack is coming, and then sleeping peacefully there in the parking garage. Now the Ukrainian crew of the series is in Estonia, and when there has been a missile attack in Ukraine, they have all stayed up here all night and been in touch with their families to make sure everyone is all right," Raag pointed out. 

The director recalled filming at former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's (2010-2014) palace, which was built with embezzled money.

"It was a night shoot, and at some point the first assistant director comes up to me and says, think about what shots you still want to do here, we have about an hour because another attack warning has been issued, ballistic missiles are about to be launched and we have to go to a shelter," Raag said.

Producer Yevgeny Supin said Kyiv also stood in for Estonia in some of the scenes.

"Just recently, I was looking at pictures of Tallinn from the early 1990s, where our story begins. My memory tells me that not much has changed, but the pictures tell a completely different story. Tallinn has changed so much in that time that it is impossible for us to find the Tallinn of the 1990s. Kyiv is so big and different that it is easier to find that atmosphere there," he said.

The series is produced in collaboration between Estonian Television Film Studio (ERR) and Go3. The lead producer is Zolba Productions, with co-producers including Ukrainian production company Film.UA and Bulgarian production company Agitprop

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