The investigation was conducted (Seasons 1–21)

Sledstvie Veli (The investigation was conducted) — watch online on iFILM. This Russian documentary series from NTV, launched in 2006, reconstructs real criminal cases from the Soviet era. Host Leonid Kanevsky presents each instalment.

Every episode covers a specific case from the years between 1917 and 1991: the evidence, the investigators' decisions, the details that never made it into official records. Some cases bear an uncanny resemblance to well-known Soviet films — either the screenwriters were tipped off, or Soviet life simply had a habit of running ahead of fiction.

The series works on two levels at once. It is a criminal chronicle and a portrait of Soviet daily life assembled from the small details surrounding each case. Kanevsky's delivery is even-keeled and measured — no dramatic flourishes, no manufactured urgency. Stream Sledstvie Veli online on iFILM.