An elite Kyiv Naval Political College functions in a city without access to the sea. The first Soviet aircraft carrier, Kyiv, became the flagship of the Northern Fleet. The school's students, future political officers of the Soviet navy, go on a long navigation voyage while at the place of their alma mater opens a Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

Focusing on the history of the changing ideological function of the institution, "Under the Sign of Anchor" explores the complex and sometimes paradoxical connections between war and culture, the Soviet past and the present. The film is based on materials from film archives from the time of the collapse of the USSR and the first years of Ukraine's independence.