Krasnovy (season 1)

The first season of *Krasnovy*, a Russian serial drama, originally aired in Russia on Channel One Russia from 15 September 2007 to 19 January 2008. The pilot was commissioned in December 2006, with a series being ordered by Channel One in March 2007. A full 20-episode first season was later picked up on 23 September 2007.

Season one stars Anastasia Sokolova as heiress Natasha Krasnova, Vladimir Stavsky as her billionaire father Alexander Krasnov, Anush Petrosyan as Alexander's new wife Anya Krasnova-Harutyunyan, and Boris Pskov and Alexey Nikolovsky as his two sons Peter and Dima Krasnov, respectively, with Eldar Bilyaletdinov as Krasnov family chauffeur Farid Fayzulin, Vladislav Ponomarenko as Alexander's business rival Nikolai Shumin, Anne Tsitsikian as Anya's niece Nora Darbinyan, and Artem Altynbekov as Krasnov family majordomo and butler Taras. Notable recurring characters introduced in the first season include Polina Shumina (Ekaterina Andreyeva) and Igor Shumin (Pavel Liskovich), Nikolai's younger sister and father; Elena Polyakova (Natalya Belova), the unstable wife of Anya's former lover; Lusine Darbinyan (Tamar Stepanyan) and Shant Darbinyan (Gor Avetisyan), Nora's parents; Sasha Antonovich (Danil Shupov), a stranger Natasha marries to thwart Nikolai's plot against her; and Katya Kholodova (Anna Maripova), Peter's ex-girlfriend.

## Plot

*Krasnovy* begins with wealthy heiress Natasha Krasnova unhappy to discover her billionaire father Alexander engaged to marry Anya, an employee at his company Krasnov Industries. When Alexander decides to promote Anya to the position he had previously promised Natasha, Natasha leaves the company to join forces with her high school boyfriend and her father's main business rival Nikolai Shumin of Shumin Company. Meanwhile Nora, Anya's niece from Armenia, arrives in Moscow and threatens to reveal the secrets of Anya's dark past, while also becoming romantically involved with Natasha's brother Dima. After the suspicious death of Anya's former lover Oleg, the Krasnovs form a united front, but things do not remain harmonious for long. While Alexander's manipulations put him at odds with his family, the rivalry between Natasha and Anya begins to cool down. Oleg's pregnant widow Elena finds herself a temporary guest at the Krasnov estate, but with a hidden agenda.

When Krasnov family chauffeur and Natasha's lover Farid grows tired with not being a priority to Natasha, he ends up dating somebody else, bringing Natasha back into the arms of Nikolai. Nikolai's business and romantic partnership with Natasha is revealed to be part of a plot to destroy the Krasnov family for what Alexander did to his father Igor. Natasha enlists Farid and Anya to turn the tables on the Shumin family, managing to neutralize Nikolai and secure majority ownership over his company.

Anya discovers difficulties in securing money to send to her sister Lusine back in Armenia. Anya's dark past then comes back to haunt her in the form of Lusine and Shant, Nora's father who was presumed dead. Meanwhile, Dima begins an unstable relationship with Nora, while Peter's emerging political career is put into jeopardy with the reemergence of his ex-girlfriend Katya.

## Cast and characters

### Main

* Anastasia Sokolova as Natasha Krasnova, the middle child and only Krasnov daughter
* Anush Petrosyan as Anahit "Anya" Krasnova-Harutyunyan, the new wife of Alexander with a dark past
* Boris Pskov as Peter Krasnov, the eldest Krasnov child whose morals come into conflict with his father's
* Alexey Nikolovsky as Dima Krasnov, the youngest Krasnov child and black sheep of the family
* Eldar Bilyaletdinov as Farid Fayzulin, the Krasnovs' Tatar chauffeur and Natasha's lover
* Vladislav Ponomarenko as Nikolai Shumin, Natasha's high school boyfriend and Alexander's business rival
* Anne Tsitsikian as Nora Darbinyan, Anya's niece who arrives in Moscow, bringing along Anya's dark past
* Artem Altynbekov as Taras, the Krasnovs' Kazakh live-in butler and majordomo
* Vladimir Stavsky as Alexander Krasnov, the patriarch of the Krasnov family and CEO of Krasnov Industries

### Recurring

* Edvards Letovs as Oleg Polyakov, Anya's former lover, a field engineer who dies in a suspicious explosion
* Natalya Belova as Elena Polyakova, Oleg's wife, a former engineer
* Ekaterina Andreyeva as Polina Shumina, Nikolai's younger sister
* Nodiko Guramishvili as Irakli "Ira" Kereselidze, Oleg's friend and coworker at Krasnov Industries
* Tamar Stepanyan as Lusine Darbinyan, Anya's sister and Nora's mother
* Boris Somovich as Police Chief Evgeniy Verushchkov, a longtime friend of Alexander's
* Tina Surkova as Police Chief Ruslana Primakova, Nikolai's cousin and Evgeniy's replacement
* Polina Danilova as Masha, the new girlfriend of Farid
* Anna Maripova as Katya Kholodova, Peter's mentally unstable ex-girlfriend
* Alexander Zykov as Chairman Borislav Urusov, a longtime contact of Alexander's
* Svetlana Ryzhova as Galina Urusova, Borislav's wife and Peter's former lover
* Danil Shupov as Alexander "Sasha Antonovich" Chelomtsev, a writer who marries Natasha
* Vahe Mamikonyan as Gevorg Manukyan, a journalist and old friend of Anya's
* Gulnara Kleymyonova as Regina Fayzulina, Farid's mother
* Karim Yakhin as Ramil Fayzulin, Farid's father
* Egor Lukyanenko as Vladislav Krasnov, Alexander's father
* Andrey Kruglov as Igor Shumin, Nikolai and Polina's father
* Gor Avetisyan as Shant Darbinyan, Nora's father operating under the alias Serj Zakaryan