In a very peaceful area in the Danvers region in Ukraine, Mykola lives with his pregnant
wife Nastya, both of them are known as the first ecosettlers in the area. Nastya is an artist who
likes drawing and woodcarving, she even makes a wood angel for Mykola so he can have a protection
amulet. Mykola is a mathematician, physicist, and ecologist that teaches at the local school,
which he travels to on his bicycle. The peace sign outside their home is the "paw of the white
raven", representing an ancient legend of a raven that felt pity for people and brought
them fresh water and food, losing its feathers in the process. Because of the lack of electronics
at home, the couple does not get any news until Mykola goes to work and gets a few minutes of tv
during his break, that is how he learns about the protesters that were killed in Ukraine's capital
city and Russia possibly invading the country. During class, Mykola is harassed by student Ivan,
who thinks his teacher is a stranger and a weirdo so he wants him gone, but Mykola never lets him
anger him because he believes in pacifism and working on guiding the youth's mind. One morning
on his way to work, Mykola notices some soldiers standing by the road but pays them no mind. When
he finally arrives at school, he is shocked to find it empty, and the tv quickly tells him why:
Russia has invaded Ukraine. Remembering the soldiers he saw earlier, Mykola worries about
his wife and rushes back to his house, but it is already too late: the Russians are there beating
Nastya up and they catch Mykola too when he tries to defend her. After the soldiers make sure they
are not spies, they start a fire inside the house and leave, but when Nastya tries to retaliate
by throwing a stone at them, the soldiers do not hesitate to shoot her before finally going
away. Devastated, Mykola clings to his wife's body while watching his house burn down. Hours later,
two members of the Ukrainian militia find Mykola, and after checking his identity to make sure he is
an innocent civilian, they help him dig a grave for Nastya. Then they take him away with them to
their base, although before leaving Mykola makes sure to take the wood angel with him as the last
memory of his wife. The higher-ups at the base are not happy about the sudden arrival of a stranger
because he could be a spy, but Mykola quickly proves himself by saying he wants to join the
army and drive the Russians out of their country. From then on, Mykola is sent to a heavy training
course where he must learn to exhaust his body and use firearms, two things that as a pacifist he is
never done before. Disassembling and assembling weapons is particularly hard for him and it earns
him the mockery of his superiors, especially when he announces he has chosen Raven as a codename.
Mykola does not let them put him down and trains extra hard, staying up late with weapon practice
and keeping the wood angel close so he never forgets his objective: getting revenge for his
wife. A few weeks later, the trainees learn there are not enough snipers at the front and the army
is looking for volunteers for the job. Not many people are interested, but Mykola immediately
volunteers, only to be met with more mockery. Still not willing to give up, Mykola takes a
challenge to prove himself: he disassembles and reassembles an AK-47 while blindfolded in
under twenty seconds, finally earning everyone's respect. They also start calling him Raven as he
wanted. The theoretical part of sniper training comes easily to Mykola thanks to his knowledge
of mathematics and physics, being able to do calculations faster than the teachers themselves.
He is also excellent at following the number one rule, which is keeping absolutely still and quiet,
even when an instructor shoots at the ground near him. Unfortunately he does not do well when it
comes to the actual shooting because for some reason, they have given him a different weapon
from everybody else, the kind of firearm that is not apt for war sniping. Whenever Mykola points
this out, he is told to deal with it. Once again, Mykola refuses to give up and makes a plan to
prove what he can do. The last sniper test is during the night, and the trainees must shoot
as soon as a flare shot by the instructor gives them enough light around their subjects. However
Mykola does not shoot yet, he uses the light to calculate the distance and once the exam is over,
then he shoots under complete darkness and hits the target exactly in the center, something nobody
else managed. This allows Mykola to graduate with the highest score and ends up being assigned to a
first-class unit. For his first mission, Mykola and his fellow snipers must free an important
checkpoint that has been captured by the Russians. The team successfully sneaks into the area without
being detected and each sniper gets assigned a target, but when they are about to shoot,
they must pause the plan because a civilian car approaches the checkpoint. The Russian soldiers
make the two civilians come out and hand in their passports, refusing to give them back when they
ask the couple to leave. The man makes a scene as he demands to be given his things back, causing
the Russian soldiers to respond with violence. Mykola's team notices this and immediately
attacks, killing every soldier with quick, efficient shots, including the guy that tries to
hold the civilian woman hostage. Once the mission is over, the team hangs the Ukrainian flag to
retake control of the checkpoint. When they return to base, Mykola hears his fellow newbies have left
on a different mission, so he uses this moment of downtime to visit the school he used to work at,
finding himself deeply moved by the desolate sight of the dusty classrooms. The next day,
when the other team comes back, Mykola is hit by the hardest of news: one of his friends has died
at the hands of an enemy sniper. This adds to the list of reasons why Mykola wants to get revenge.
For the next mission, Mykola's team hides a bunch of explosives on trees behind leaves before they
hide in the grass while waiting for their enemy to show up. When the Russian soldiers appear in
the forest as reports had anticipated, Mykola hesitates to shoot because he sees something he
can not believe: Ivan has joined the Russian army and is coming this way with the rest
of their enemies. He snaps out of it when the captain orders him to shoot, and Mykola hits the
detonator, killing every Russian soldier including Ivan. When the captain asks him what was all about
and hears Mykola's explanation, he responds Ivan had made his choice. Later during a break,
Mykola and the captain bond over their memories of home. The captain carries with him a picture of
his family and explains he has an agreement with his wife not to tell his daughters the nature of
his job, so they think he is away on a business trip. In return, Mykola shows him the wood angel,
explaining it symbolizes his own family. A few days later, the Ukrainian forces manage to secure
the trenches by the border, so the sniper team gets in position to wait for the Russian forces
that are getting ready to invade this region. Keeping the angel with him at all times, Mykola
gets ready to do his job, but he loses his usual calmness when he notices that among the arriving
Russian soldiers he can see the man that killed his wife. Desperate for revenge, Mykola keeps
asking for permission to shoot, and the captain turns him down every time because the enemy is
not in the right position yet. Eventually Mykola gets tired of waiting and shoots anyway, hitting
the soldier but also giving away their location to a hidden enemy sniper that immediately retaliates
and kills the captain. As the Russians open fire on them, Mykola has to drag the captain's body
through the field while dodging every bullet and every bomb. Hours later, when Mykola finally makes
it back to the base, his superior promises there will be an investigation to find out the sniper
that killed the captain and when they finally find him, they will call Mykola to take care of
him. Meanwhile Mykola is overwhelmed with guilt and decides to throw himself into solo missions
to make up for his mistake. His sniper skills are still on point and he manages to take down
many Russian soldiers, but without anyone keeping him on his toes, he also gets too risky and ends
up with a wounded arm caused by an enemy bullet. Mykola goes to a secret hideout to take time to
recover and watch the news to get an update on the political status of the negotiations with Russia,
but his break is interrupted by an important call. It turns out the army has found the location of
the sniper that killed the captain, so Mykola needs to come back. Before the mission begins,
the soldiers are told all the information that has been gathered so far. The sniper's bullets
are wide-ranging, he has already killed five Ukrainian snipers and three machine gunners,
and his name is Sarri. To make matters worse, he records all his kills and posts the videos
to demoralize them; he even had the nerve to post the recording of their captain's death. At least
all these casualties have allowed them to pinpoint Sarri's location, and since they can not fill the
place with mines because of a chlorine storage in the chemical plant where the enemy is hiding,
they have come up with an alternate plan. Their snipers will take out the lower soldiers to clear
the way in order for Mykola to sneak inside and get Sarri face-to-face. When the mission begins,
all the Ukrainian snipers get in position and wait for Mykola to get inside the building by crawling
through the field. The first soldier he finds is the other man that had attacked his home and still
remembers Mykola, saying he should have killed him the first time. After killing him with one quick
and satisfying shot, Mykola gives his teammates the ok to attack, prompting all the Ukrainian
snipers to fire at the same time and managing a sweep of the area without raising any alerts.
There are only two Russian snipers left, including Sarri. They do not notice there is something wrong
until they stop receiving messages over the comms and go to check on their fellow soldiers,
finding them all dead. While Mykola uses the chance to get deeper into the building unnoticed,
Sarri calls for backup and sends the other soldier to keep watch before he returns to his spot,
where he is surprised to see a little wood angel. At that moment Mykola comes out, jumping on Sarri
to kill him with a knife while the other Russian soldier falls victim to a grenade that is waiting
for him. Then the backup that Sarri called for arrives at the area, so Mykola uses Sarri's radio
to tell the new soldiers that they will pay for what they did. As soon as the Russian truck parks,
the Ukrainian soldiers open fire on it, eliminating all the targets in seconds.
Now that Mykola has avenged his wife, his friend, and his captain, he decides to take a break and go
back home to visit Nastya's grave, making sure to fix the cross that had fallen. Sadly, as much as
he misses his home, he can not stay because there is much more work to do for his country. Soon he
is on another solo mission, ready to bring down as many Russian soldiers as necessary.