Defense of Vladimir

In 1235, on the Kurultai in Mongolia, it was decided to take a trip to the western countries. In the winter of 1237, the Mongols destroyed Ryazan and ravaged the Grand Duchy of Ryazan . Prince Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich " sent his son Vsevolod with all the people " ^[1] to help the Ryazan princes, but the army was defeated in the battle of Kolomna . Yuri Vsevolodovich appointed a new gathering of troops on the river Sit . The Mongols invaded the Vladimir-Suzdal principality , took Moscow on January 20 and appeared on the walls of Vladimir on February 3, 1238 .

Having destroyed Moscow and plundered its surroundings, Batu led an army to Vladimir-Zalessky . It is not known which route the Mongol-Tatar Tumens took. VV Kargalov wrote that the most probable was the movement on the ice of Klyazma. On February 4, 1238, the Mongol army approached Vladimir. The city had powerful fortifications - ramparts and walls of the "New City", the walls of the "Monomakh City" and the walls of the Detinets. A few days earlier, Yuri Vsevolodovich with a small squad went to the River Sit to collect troops ^[2] for a new battle with the enemy, waiting for the regiments of his brothers Yaroslav (a number of historians believe that Yuri was waiting for the Novgorod troops ^[3] at the City) and Svyatoslav ^{[4 ]} . The family of Yuri remained in Vladimir: the wife and sons Vsevolod and Mstislav, as well as part of the squad, led by the governor Pyotr Oslyadyukovich. Approaching the city, the Mongol-Tatar warriors showed the princes and townspeople standing on the walls of Vladimir Yuryevich captured during the defeat of Moscow and demanded the voluntary surrender of the city. Hearing the refusal, they killed Vladimir and began to prepare for the siege ^[5] .

On the same day, part of the Mongol army moved to Suzdal and took the city by storm. The population was partly killed, and part taken away, the surrounding villages and monasteries were burned. On February 6, this detachment returned to the camp at Vladimir. By this time, the city was surrounded by tyn, stone-throwing guns were placed in front of the walls, and the Mongols went on the attack. They managed to destroy the walls in several places, but that day the assault was repelled. On February 7, the attack resumed, the defenders of the city could not keep the previously breached wall gaps, the Mongols broke into the “New City” and set it on fire. Many residents died in the fire. Parts managed to hide behind the walls of the "Monomakh City", but the defenders could not stay there and the survivors retreated to Detinets - the last stronghold of Vladimir’s defense. Then the son of Yuri Vsevolod with part of the squad left the city. According to the South Russian chronicler, he hoped for Batu’s pardon, but was killed. The middle son of Yuri Mstislav, like his brothers, also died “outside the city”, but under unknown circumstances, possibly during a sortie. After the murder of Vsevolod, the Mongols took the children, and the cathedral church, where the grand-ducal family, the boyars and ordinary residents took refuge, was burned by the Mongols along with the people there. Vladimir was the last city of North-Eastern Russia, which was besieged by the combined forces of Batu ^[6] .

After the capture of Vladimir, the Mongol troops scattered in different directions on Vladimir land. In addition to the capital, in February 14 cities of the principality were ravaged, among which the most stubborn resistance was exerted by the Pereyaslavl-Zalessky and Tver .

March 4, 1238 the corps under the leadership of Burundai with a sudden attack inflicted on the river. The city was the decisive defeat of the troops gathered by Yuri Vsevolodovich, when the main forces of the Mongols, under the leadership of Subeday, besieged Tver and Torzhok .

• Petrukhin V.Ya. Ancient Russia, IX century - 1263 - M .: AST , 2005 .-- 190 p. - ISBN 5-17-028246-X .
• Kargalov V.V. Rus and nomads . - M .: Veche, 2008 .-- 480 p. - (Secrets of the Russian Land). - ISBN 978-5-9533-2921-7 .
• Khrapachevsky R.P. Military power of Genghis Khan. - M .: AST: LUX, 2005. - 557, [3] p. - (Military Historical Library). - 5,000 copies. - ISBN 5-17-027916-7 .