Heartwarming / Citizen X

• In an otherwise very, very grim film, Fetisov provides one. Early in the movie, Burakov asks the investigation committee to provide manpower, computers, access to the FBI for help, and to warn the populace of the threat. On the grounds that none of it's necessary because there is no threat, the committee says no, and goes on doing so. Then the Soviet Union starts to fall apart, and one day Burakov reports to the committee room as usual to find that the only ones there are himself and Fetisov:
  Burakov: Where are they?
  Fetisov: Who?
  Burakov: The committee.
  Fetisov: We are it.
  Burakov: Who's the new head of the investigation?
  Fetisov: You.
  Burakov: [wary] Congratulations, Colonel.
  Fetisov: Actually, I'm a General now. I don't have my insignia yet, but they're on order.
  Burakov: Congratulations, General.
  Fetisov: You...are a Colonel. Congratulations, Colonel. Now, sit down. Let's get started. I'm now the prefect of Militia for the entire Oblast, reporting only to Moscow. I can allocate resources any way I see fit, and I am considering this case my highest priority. You need men, you need publicity, you need communications? You have it. [Passes him a box of tissues] I got these in Moscow yesterday, they're fantastic. You have a telephone appointment, tonight at midnight, to speak with the head of the FBI's Serial Murder Task Force, Special Agent Beckford. He told me late last night that he has been following your work on this case with great interest for about five years. I didn't ask him how. He considers you a man of iron will. For what it's worth, I concur. And he also told me that he rotates his people off serial murder cases every eighteen months, whether they like it or not, to prevent the inevitable psychological consequences of too much frustration. I...pretended that I had known that all along. He thinks that I pushed you and pushed you in search of your limits, until I realised that you didn't have any. Privately, I offer my deepest apologies to you and your wife. I hope that some day you can forgive me my ignorance. Anyway, he suggested I not tell you this next bit: he said that he starts a new group of recruits through the programme every sixteen weeks. And the first lecture that he gives is always about you. He calls you the one man in the world that he would least like to have after him. An intelligent, methodical, painstaking, passionate detective who would rather die than give up. Again... I concur.
• "These are the men who caught him!"
• The loyalty of the police force under Burakov's command. Initially bristling under Burakov's no-nonsense attitude and insistence that they give it their all to solve the case, they gradually begin to have great admiration for Burakov's unwavering determination to bring the serial killer to justice. It culminates in this conversation:

  Federenko: He likes to walk around the crime scene first, before we go in and stomp around too much.

  Fetisov: That's smart.

  Federenko: He doesn't do too much dumb.

  Fetisov: Would you say that he's a good detective?

  Federenko: I would say... I've never worked with anyone as good.

• Fetisov and Burakov are personally making rounds to collect reports from undercover men stationed to watch for people who might be the killer at trains stations:
  Fetisov: Giver me your interrogation slips.
  Undercover man: *pulls out a stack of papers and offers them*
  Burakov: Why so many?
  Undercover man: They are from since Friday, all through the holiday weekend.
  Burakov: How long have you been here?
  Undercover man: Thirty-six hours.
  Burakov: With no relief?
  Undercover man: No, sir. My partner got sick and they didn't send anyone else from the station because of the holiday.