Yuri Dmitriyev discovers a mass grave in Karelia's pine forests with thousands of victims of Stalin's "Great Terror" in 1937. His revelations finally bring assurance to the relatives about the remaining whereabouts of their lost relatives. While Dmitriev is discredited as a collaborator in Russia, he finds appreciation abroad. Despite international recognition, he is slandered, arrested and sentenced to 15 years in prison. The documentary shows the despotism of the Russian "legal system" and the methods used to silence inconvenient people.