Age: 49
male
Aleksandr Ustyugov (born October 17, 1976) is a powerhouse of Russian entertainment, renowned for his intense screen presence as an actor, director, and musician. Born in Ekibastuz, Kazakhstan, he initially trained as an electrician and worked in a coal mine before pivoting to the arts. He graduated from the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute (2003) and became a household name for his iconic, long-running role as Major Roman Shilov in the hit police procedural Cop Wars (Mentovskie Voyny, 2004–2018). Ustyugov has also gained international visibility as the antagonist Victor Toropov in the Netflix sci-fi series Better than Us. Beyond acting, he is the frontman of the rock band Ekibastuz, which he founded in 2015.
Aleksandr Ustyugov
Pokrovsky Sr.
for Pokrovsky Sr. in Poor Folk
Suggested by sepanta_kazemi
In a cramped St. Petersburg neighborhood, two distant relatives—Varvara Dobroselova and Makar Devushkin—live across from each other in rundown apartments where thin walls carry every sound of struggle. Both hover at the edge of poverty, but the letters they exchange become the one steady thread holding their lives together. Varvara carries the weight of a turbulent past: a harsh childhood, an abusive home, and a brief, tender attachment that ended in loss. Makar works long hours as a low-level copyist, constantly belittled at the office and painfully aware of his place in the world. Despite his hardships, he sends her gifts he can barely afford, hoping to offer her a small comfort. Through their correspondence, they share stories, fears, and the small victories that keep them going. Books pass between them, ideas spark, and a quiet bond forms—fragile, hopeful, and never spoken aloud. As pressures mount around them—money troubles, intrusive landlords, old memories, and new opportunities—the two must face a question they’ve both avoided: whether their connection can survive the hard pull of circumstances that never seem to ease. Poor Folk unfolds as an intimate portrait of two lonely souls reaching toward each other in a city that rarely makes room for tenderness, letting their letters become the only place where they can breathe.
