Russo-Crimean Wars

. The Crimean invasions of Russia began in 1507, after the death of Moscow's grand duke Ivan III, with the Crimean Khanate attacking the Russian towns of Belev and Kozelsk. Over the course of the 16th century, the outer border of the Wild Steppes was near the city of Ryazan, outside the Oka River. The main path for the invading forces to Moscow was the Muravsky Trail, running from the Crimean Isthmus of Perekop, between the basins of the Dnieper and Seversky Donets rivers, and finally up to Tula. The Tatars would turn back only after extensive looting and kidnapping, the Tartars usually managed to penetrate 100–200 kilometers into Russian territory. Captives were subsequently sent to the Crimean city of Caffa to be sold into the Crimean slave trade. As a result, the Russian population in the border regions suffered heavily. Each spring, Russia mobilized up to several thousand soldiers for border service. The defensive lines consisted of a circuit of fortresses and cities. To protect from invasions by the Nogai Horde in the region between the Volga and Ural rivers, the Volga cities of Samara (1586), Tsaritsyn (1589), and Saratov (1590) were founded. The most damaging invasions occurred in 1517, 1521 (supported by the Khanate of Kazan), 1537 (supported by the Khanate of Kazan, the Lithuanians, and the Ottoman Empire), 1552, 1555, 1570–72 (supported by Sweden and the Ottoman Empire), 1589, 1593, 1640, 1666–67 (supported by Poland–Lithuania), 1671, and 1688. == Russo-Crimean wars of 1571–1572 ==

Fire of Moscow (1571) In May 1571, the 60,000-strong Crimean and Ottoman army (40,000 Tatars, 13,000 irregular Turks, and 7,000 janissaries) led by the khan of Crimea Devlet I Giray, and Big and Small Nogai hordes and troops of Circassians, bypassed the Serpukhov defensive fortifications on the Oka River, crossed the Ugra River, and rounded the flank of the 6,000-man Russian army. The sentry troops of Russians were crushed by the Crimeans. Not having forces to stop the invasion, the Russian army retreated to Moscow. The rural Russian population also fled to the capital. The Crimean army devastated unprotected towns and villages around Moscow, and then set fire to suburbs of the capital. Due to a strong wind, the fire quickly expanded. The townspeople, chased by a fire and refugees, rushed to the northern gate of the capital. At the gate and in the narrow streets, there was a crush, people "went in three lines went on heads one of another, and top pressed those who were under them". The army, having mixed up with refugees, lost order, and general prince Belsky died in a fire. Within three hours, Moscow burnt completely. In one more day, the Crimean army, sated with its pillage, left on the Ryazan road to the steppes. Contemporaries counted up to 80,000 victims of the invasion in 1571, with 150,000 Russian taken as captives. Battle of Molodi (1572) After the burning of Moscow, Devlet Giray Khan, supported by the Ottoman Empire, invaded Russia again in 1572. On 26 July 1572 the huge horde of the khan, equipped with cannons and reinforced by janissaries, crossed the Oka River near Serpukhov, decimated the Russian vanguard of 200 men, and advanced towards Moscow in order to pillage it once again. Little did they know, however, that the Russians had prepared for the second invasion, setting up innovative fortifications just beyond the Oka river. The Cirmean Tatars were this time repelled. After the battle, only 20,000 Tatar horsemen returned to the Crimea, while the khan left his tent and banner on the battlefield and barely managed to escape alive. == After 1572 ==

Despite the defeat of the Crimean Tatars at Molodi, the raids against Russia continued until the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774. The Russian expansion turned to the Black Sea region and the Crimean Khanate was invaded several times in the 18th century and finally annexed in 1783. ==Incomplete list of Tatar raids==

This list does not include raids into Poland-Lithuania (75 raids during 1474–1569) • 1507: defeat of the Crimeans who marched on Moscow. • 1507 and 1514: the raids led by Tatar nobles, avoiding a peace agreement held by the Khan. • 1521: Khan and 50,000 men cross the Oka at Kolomna and ravage outskirts of Moscow for 2 weeks. • c. 1533: Abatis defense line about 100 km south of the Oka. • 1533–1547 (regency for Ivan IV): some 20 large raids on the frontiers. • 1541: Crimean Khan crosses the Oka river on rafts under covering fire from Turkish guns. • 1556–1559: the Russians and Zaporozhians raid the Black Sea coast four times. • 1598: the Crimeans stopped by Bank Line, withdraw and sue for peace. • 1632: force from Livny ambushed by Tatars and Janissaries (sic). 300 killed and the rest enslaved. • 1635: many small war parties invaded Russia south of Ryazan. • 1774: Crimea became a Russian vassal. • 1783: Crimea annexed by Russia. == References ==