Don Cossack Stepan Razin swore revenge on the boyars for his tortured friends. Leading the rebel peasants, he becomes the leader of the whole army. From all over the land of the Russian, humiliated and offended flock to him. Tsar Alexey is concerned about the growing power of the ataman. The church anathematizes Stepan, who had gathered on the march on Moscow. Regular tsarist troops manage to stop rebel detachments near the walls of Simbirsk. Razin's companions are dying, and the chieftain is captured.