The Shield and the Sword (Russian: Щит и меч, romanized: Shchit i metch) is a 1968 Soviet spy television series in four parts directed by Vladimir Basov and produced by Mosfilm.

[3] The song What Does Motherland Begin With (С чего начинается Родина), sung by Mark Bernes, that was main musical theme of each film in the series, became well known in the USSR.

The year is 1940 and Nazi Germany is at the height of its military power, having captured most of Europe and eyeing the Soviet Union to the East.

His mastery of the German language, steel nerves and an ability to manipulate others help him to use his connections in the SS to ascend the ladder of the Abwehr and then in the SD.

He uses his position to identify sympathetic Germans, who help him to procure vital intelligence, and to help local resistance movements in their collective fight against Nazism.