The Imposters (Самозванцы) revolves around a fictional famous author Aleksey Govorov who rose to fame by publishing The Imposters, a masterpiece novel written by his blacklisted friend in the 1960's.The original author having died shortly after, this secret remained hidden for thirty years while Govorov became a national treasure and symbol of righteousness. Now, with the approaching anniversary an unambitious but conscientious book critic discovers that the novel was likely written by Boris Ragozin, a long-forgotten author. Torn between duty to speak the truth and unwillingness to topple an esteemed public figure, he plans on confronting Govorov. 

Meanwhile, in a provincial town of Plinishmy, two twenty-year-old girls (Nina and Sasha) yearn to leave their dead-end lives and want to move to Moscow to achieve their dreams. There are rumours about Sasha being Govorov's granddaughter...

The lives of these four and the people around them get intertwined and tangled, with everyone lying, pretending someone they are not, and looking to get something out of others. Ironically, all of them are "the imposters".