In the aftermath of the victory in France, Hitler decides to attack the Soviet Union and places his hopes on field marshal Fedor von Bock, commander of Army Group Center, for the capture of Moscow.

Ozerov was not allowed to deal with the early, dark chapters of the war in Liberation due to political pressure, and Soldiers of Freedom revolved around the battles outside the Soviet Union.

For the 40th year to the victory over Germany, Ozerov intended to create a film about the first stages on the war, from the beginning of the invasion on 22 June 1941 until the Wehrmacht's defeat near Moscow.

The actors selected to portray the main roles were mostly ones who already appeared as such in the director's earlier works, especially Mikhail Ulyanov who depicted Zhukov in all of Ozerov's films.

[4] Marshal Sergei Rudenko served as the chief military consultant of the movie; the battle scenes involved troops from the Red Army as extras.

The filming of the open-door battle scenes took place in Czechoslovakia, but the urban combat was shot in Moscow itself: buildings in the wrecked parts of the city were demolished with explosives to simulate bomber attacks.

[7] Russian film critic Alexander Fedorov called the movie "a large-scale war production typical of Yuri Ozerov" which presents Stalin as a wise leader, and depicts Zhukov as a brilliant general.