Cossacks in Exile

In Ukraine, in 1775, the Zaporogian Cossacks learn that Moscow is sending soldiers to destroy their fort. The Ukrainian villagers appeal to Czarina Catherine, but she insists that they join the Russian army or risk annihilation. Instead, the Cossacks burn their fort and flee on the Danube River to Turkey, where they live in peace, but still yearn for their homeland.