Where Does the Motherland Begin?
song composed by Veniamin Basner with lyrics by Mikhail Matusovsky performed by Mark Bernes
"Where Does the Motherland Begin?" or "What Does the Homeland Begin With?" (Russian: С чего начинается Родина, romanized: S chego nachinayetsya Rodina) is a Soviet song composed by Veniamin Basner with lyrics by Mikhail Matusovsky for the four-part film The Shield and the Sword (Щит и меч, Shchit i mech), in 1968. The melody of the song was the main musical theme of the film. The song was performed by Mark Bernes. The song was a great success and was adopted as an unofficial anthem by the Soviet and then Russian secret service.
The public source identifies “Where Does the Motherland Begin?” as song composed by Veniamin Basner with lyrics by Mikhail Matusovsky performed by Mark Bernes. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Where, Does and Motherland.
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Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4402960. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1968.
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This entry incorporates text from “Where Does the Motherland Begin?” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.