The film reconstructs the historical context of the massacre which took place on 29–30 September 1941, when Sonderkommando 4a of the Einsatzgruppe C, assisted by two battalions of the Police Regiment South and Ukrainian Auxiliary Police, shot dead 33,771 Jews in the Babi Yar ravine.

With his careful attention to detail, Sergei Loznitsa uncovers the complex circumstances that led to this horrific event, examining the repressive policy of both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.

The film is constructed entirely from archival footage, with sound added in some cases, bearing witness to the atrocities that took place during the occupation and the subsequent decade.