Have lived the last decade or so in Russia, with some recent years in Ukraine, the realism of some of the scenes is outstanding, they must have had some pretty talented people working on that show to achieve that level of accuracy (everyday life in the 80's), however I'm not so convinced over the character portrayal but my Ukrainian friends say they have this spot on as well. It was a dark period, and it should have been portrayed as such but I don't feel that atmosphere, and I was in Russia during the late 90's... when everything was dark. But still, the series is enthralling,