This criminal case begins with the death of a young woman and leads the police into the heart of the unscrupulous business of a human trafficking ring from Croatia and Ukraine. In their attempt to solve the brutal exploitation of girls, the investigators are also in danger.
Human life is worth nothing to criminals. Arte is showing the dark six-part series “The Girl from Kiev” on two Thursday evenings, February 13 and 20, starting at 9:45 p.m. It was filmed in 2021, before the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine broke out.
The story, based on the books by Croatian author Drago Hedl, takes place in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev and the city of Osijek in eastern Croatia. According to the broadcaster, it is based on true events. The body of young Ivana lies in a river in Osijek, Croatia. Ironically, the old war veteran Igor Kozul (Zlatko Buric) finds the dead man – the man is severely traumatized and is considered “crazy”. The police consider him a suspect, although his therapist claims the opposite.
Not only the two committed investigators Vladimir Kovac (Darko Milas) and Vesna Horak (Sandra Loncaric) are interested in the case, but also the journalist Stribor Kralj (Goran Bogdan). The officials don’t like that at first, but then Stribor finds the dead man’s mobile phone. Vladimir and Vesna realize they can benefit from the reporter’s investigation. From now on they will cooperate a bit. A little later the teenager Sanja is found – also dead. She was friends with Ivana.
Meanwhile, 15-year-old Katja has disappeared in Kiev. The girl is the niece of the wealthy charity lady Olga (Kseniia Mishyna). Olga runs a children’s charity and is married to the ambitious Croatian politician Ivan Horvatic (Leon Lucev). Together with her security guard Nikolay (Viktor Saraikin), Olga tries to find her niece. Vain. Then Olga gets bad news from her husband: Katja is also dead. Her body was found in Croatia.
The investigators are still puzzling over whether they are dealing with a series of murders or whether they have tracked down a brutal network of human traffickers. Vladimir and Vesna increasingly distrust their own chief of police and find a connection to a trucking company. The case takes both of them emotionally.
Olga and her husband Ivan Horvatic try to contact the journalist Stribor. They want information. Olga and Stribor start researching together. However, a newspaper article by the reporter then leads to another crime.
Director Dalibor Matanic and screenwriter Marjan Alcevski skillfully intertwine the storylines in Kiev and Osijek and let the audience view the events from the perspectives of the police, the journalist, the relatives, the perpetrators and the victims. And in the end, the viewer finds out who is actually leading a brutal double life.
