Kuzma Minin
The film is based on historical events and includes some fictional elements. According to the anti-Putin opposition coalition The Other Russia, "most of the history [in the film] has been diluted beyond recognition". The movie takes artistic freedom with real events. In the film, Polish troops are thrown back from Moscow, but they actually held the city for two years. Also, Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky, who were instrumental in organizing the popular uprising that led to the expulsion of Polish-Lithuanian forces, appear only briefly at the movie's conclusion.