During the journey Strogoff makes the acquaintance of Nadja Fëdorova, a young Latvian woman who intends to visit her husband Vasilij Fëdor, a military doctor kept in prison in Irkutsk due to his socialist ideals.

During a stop in an izba used as a place to rest and change horses, he meets Ogareff, in the uniform of a Russian officer, who aggressively and insolently demands the troika for the sleigh which would rightfully belong to Strogoff.

Sangarre manages to find his mother, the Countess Marfa; after the Tartars promise not to kill her son, she reveals that their prisoner is indeed Captain Michael Strogoff.

Ogareff keeps his word and does not kill the officer but blinds him by holding a red-hot saber to his eyes; Marfa, unable to bear her own pain, falls dead.

Ogareff, informed by Sangarre that the following day the Grand Duke's troops will leave the city in search of them, arrives in Irkutsk under the false guise of Captain Strogoff and carries out the plan agreed with Feofar Khan.