Michael Strogoff, a 30-year-old native of Omsk,, is a courier for Tsar Alexander II of Russia. The Tartar Khan, Feofar Khan, incites a rebellion and separates the Russion Far East from the mainland, severing telegraph lines. Rebels encircle Irkutsk, where the local governor, brother of the Tsar, is making a last stand. Strogoff is sent to Irkutsk to warn the governor about the traitor Ivan Ogareff. Ogareff, a former colonel, was once demoted and exiled and now seeks revenge against the royal family.