The eastern Ukrainian town of Snezhnoje, which prospered during the Soviet era when miners there were spoiled with all kinds of privileges, now lives in poverty.

In the heart of a once thriving Ukrainian coal-mining region the town's desperate residents decided to start mining illegally; they excavate everywhere: under the basements of demolished buildings, in the leisure parks, as well as in their own vegetable gardens. The story focuses on the Sikanov family, which has three children. 15-year-old Yura is the head of the family working as a miner in the illegal pit. Most Yura wants to run his own cafe somewhere far from home, but the responsibility for the two sisters and looming economic crisis pushes his dreams in the distant future.—Anonymous