A randomly discovered diary revives the legacy of composer Alexei Butakov — this is how Elena Zelinskaya's novel "The Last Russians Were Seen in Belgrade" begins.

The endless Russian exodus brings the first wave of emigrants to the Balkans. They experience only a couple of decades of peaceful life between two catastrophes — from the Civil War to World War II. Each turning point confronts the novel's characters — musicians, writers, journalists — with the classic dilemma of the 20th century: how to remain human amidst the grindstones of history. Each of them makes their own choice. What remains when everything is lost? They had an answer.

A hundred years later, another wave washes new Russians onto the shores of Belgrade. What mark will they leave in the history of this great city? Will they manage to find themselves and their place in a new life? How will they handle their choices: between guilt and responsibility, losses and discoveries?

Those last Russians are gone. But every evening, the curtain rises at the Belgrade Opera and Ballet Theatre. Pearly threads glisten in the sun in the white city on the shores of Lake Ohrid. And city streets bear Russian names. This is the mark history has left on their fate. But our story is just beginning...