To be led into a disastrous, hopeless place or situation; to follow someone who (intentionally or unknowingly) leads to collapse, defeat, or dire consequences.
It originates from folk
legend and works of
art (M. I. Glinka's opera "A Life for the Tsar") about the Kostroma peasant
Ivan Susanin from the early 17th century. According to
legend, during the Time of Troubles, he agreed to serve as a guide for Polish-Lithuanian invader troops searching for the young Tsar Mikhail Romanov, and deliberately led them into a dense, impenetrable forest, where they perished.