In 1941, during the Second World War, the German Nazis invaded the Soviet Union. After a four-month-long battle to capture Leningrad, Hitler decided to use hunger and siege to capture Leningrad. After three years of Nazi siege, Leningrad, with corpses everywhere, became a city of death. British female reporter Kate Davis (Mira Sorvino) was separated from her lover, American reporter Philip Parker (Gabriel Byrne) while interviewing on the front line and was trapped in Leningrad. Kate, who was isolated and helpless, was fortunately helped and sheltered by Nina (Olga Sutulova), a female police officer of the Leningrad Volunteer Army. The two persevered in the war in the ice and snow, and fought for survival together with the Soviet soldiers and civilians who were suffering from hunger.