The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone series

Igor, or the podcaster who stole 8 million from Pasha. As the story progresses, Igor's mental state deteriorates. After wandering the Exclusion Zone, he's no longer himself and asks the guys to help a man named Andrei Sergeev, who's in trouble. It later turns out Igor wasn't acting of his own free will. He was hired by KGB captain Sergei Kostenko to lure the main characters to Chernobyl and use them for his own purposes—traveling back in time. Thus, the Podcaster became a pawn in Kostenko's larger game. To track his movements, Igor maintains a video blog and regularly posts video messages online with clues. It's because of this hobby that he was nicknamed "Podcaster"—from the word "podcast," meaning audio or video recording.
Igor is a computer specialist working at BKT Telecom. After a party at Pasha Vershinin's apartment, he breaks into the safe and steals 8 million rubles. He uses the money to buy a motorcycle, a Rolex, a camera, and a car for his wedding.

Gosha agrees to the dangerous journey to Pripyat only thanks to Anya's persuasion. However, over the course of his adventures, he gradually changes, proving to himself and those around him that he's capable of more than just sitting in front of a computer screen, but also of real, courageous actions. He ends up with the main characters (Pasha, Lyosha, Nastya, and Anya) by chance: Lyosha invites him to his home to fix his computer. Gosha is a classic "nerd," accustomed to exploring the world through a computer screen. To solve problems, he usually uses a familiar set of keys, and when they're not at hand, he panics.

In the series, he is Pasha Vershinin's friend and Nastya Madysheva's boyfriend. He and his friends travel to Pripyat to catch a robber and accidentally travel back in time to the eve of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Lyosha is a contradictory character. On the one hand, he's a hooligan, a street kid who constantly gets into trouble and becomes a source of trouble for himself and his friends. He's a skilled card sharper. On the other hand, in critical moments, he displays loyalty and sincerity, willing to sacrifice himself for his comrades. Lyosha often becomes the main source of humor in the series thanks to his ridiculous antics.

In the first season, Nastya and her friends travel to Chernobyl after stealing money. On the way, they witness an accident and meet a woman named Irina, who turns out to be the criminal. She takes Nastya hostage, claiming she's her daughter, but they are pursued by a black jeep. The car flips over, and Nastya survives. In a skirmish with human hunters, she proves herself a courageous fighter, wielding a gun. Her character is contradictory: on the one hand, she's brash, fearless, and able to stand up for herself. On the other, beneath her "tomboy" facade lies a vulnerable and sentimental nature, which Nastya prefers to hide from others, including Lyosha, for whom she's willing to do anything. Nastya was born on May 19, 1995. She is friends with Lyosha, Pasha, Anya, and Gosha.

Pasha initially travels to Chernobyl to recover a large sum of money stolen from his safe by an internet company representative nicknamed "Podcaster." He and his friends embark on a pursuit that leads them into the Exclusion Zone. At first glance, Pasha is the perfect leader: he's brave, rational, and always ready to take responsibility. Despite his wealthy parents, he befriends kids from ordinary families. His best friend is Lyosha Gorelov, and the team also includes Nastya Madysheva, Gosha Petrishchev, and Anya Antonova.

During her adventures, Anya accidentally activated a device resembling a radiation counter and was transported back to 1986. There, she found and rescued Lena from a stray dog. Upon returning to 2013, she discovered in a family photograph that her sister had grown up happily and Anya had nephews. Of the entire team, Anya is the kindest, most reasonable, and calm. She always tries to find a way out of difficult situations without panicking and reconciles friends in conflicts. At the same time, she is quite cunning and secretive. The trigger for her trip to Chernobyl was an anonymous letter with a photo of her sister and the inscription "Save" on the back. This event, along with recurring dreams of her missing relative, push her to investigate. Her main goal is to find out what happened to her older sister, Lena, who disappeared without a trace in 1986 in Pripyat, on the eve of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident. Anna was born in Moscow after her parents, engineer Sergei Antonov and his wife Irina, were evacuated from Pripyat. She may have been their adopted daughter, taken from an orphanage.

In 1986, Kostenko was a young and promising officer in the Pripyat city department of the KGB in the Ukrainian SSR. He could have prevented the Chernobyl disaster, but he failed. The guilt over what happened ruined his career: after the disaster, he was accused of treason and forced to resign. As a result, Kostenko found himself on the sidelines, became a mercenary, and later opened a private security company. For many years, he never gave up hope of returning to the past and setting things right. To achieve his goal, he was willing to sacrifice everything, including human lives. Kostenko becomes the main driver of the plot. He learns of the existence of a time-travel device and begins hunting the main characters—Pasha and his friends. His goal is to lure them to Chernobyl so that they can travel back in time and prevent the disaster. During the conflict, he kills almost all of the guys, but Pasha manages to team up with him. Together, they travel to 1986, where they encounter a young Kostenko. In the season finale, the adult Kostenko accidentally kills his past self, thus creating a paradox.

Sorokin didn't appear directly in the first two seasons, but his influence was felt. In the film "Endgame," he actively intervenes in the events, capturing the mind of the protagonist, Pavel Vershinin, and using it for his own purposes. With Pasha's help, he heads the Global Kintek corporation and conducts illegal construction beneath the protective sarcophagus of the fourth power unit. Sorokin's main goal is to build a time machine so he can return to the day of the accident and change his fate, avoiding death. He seeks not only to return to the past but also to spread the Zone's anomalous power throughout the Earth, turning the planet into a new Exclusion Zone. After his death, Sorokin's body disappeared, and his consciousness became the Zone's mind. In this state, he gained superpowers: genius-level intellect, telepathy, and the ability to control others.