Ihor Novakov

It was a long time ago, when there was still a bondhold in Ukraine. Life was hard for the common people then... But in the evenings, the village boys with the girls went out into the sleeping streets, and a song began to sound, and the vechornytsi rushed through the village, cheerful, mischievous.

Hearing about the revolution in the hospital, the sailor Gulyavin goes to Petrograd, and from there with a detachment of Ukrainian volunteers he is sent to Ukraine. The troop is joined by cavalrymen under the command of the anarchist Lelka. The chief of staff, Stroyev, reproaches Gulyavin with negligence - you cannot take an untested detachment. However, the desperate courage of Lelka in battle with the White Guards gives Gulyavin not only respect for her, but love...