Draft:Cossack invasions of Russia: Difference between revisions

1571-1598 raids into Russia

The Cossack invasions of Russia also refered as the Cherkassian raids into Russia, were a series of military invasions by the Zaporozhian Cossacks into the Russian borderlands and beyond that were taking place from the end of XVI century and until the mid-XVII century. The raids often took place in a parallel with Cossack regiments joining the Russian service, with the main actions taking place in the end of XVI century.

The first Cossack attacks into the Russian territories were carried out by Ostap Dashkevych in an alliance with Crimean Khanate, particularly the 1515 and 1521. The first campaign was carried as a part of the ongoing Muscovite-Lithuanian wars and ended in a failure. The first major Cossack raid into Russia after the mentioned campaigns is dated year 1563. The prince Michał Wiśniowiecki devastated Novhorod-Siverskyi and Pochep. Eight years later whe Cossacks from Kaniv attacked Russia and raided Kolomak. In 1585, the Cossacks defeated a Russian unit on the river Bagatyi Zaton. In 1589, one of the largest anti-Russian campaigns took place. The Polish-Lithuanian troops attacked several settlements, particularly in the Russian borderland, while the Cossacks captured a loot with a cost of about 5 thousand rubles, killed and captured over 200 people as a result of their into Russia, although their attempts capture Rylsk and Oskol ended in a failure. In the April of 1590, the cherkassians from Kaniv, Pereyaslav and Cherkasy came to Voronezh to supposedly assist the Russian state in fighting with the Tatars. The voivode Ivan Andreyevich, not suspecting anything, allowed them to enter the city. In the night of the same day, they attacked the city, killed the local voivode and burned the city to the ground,^[13][14] with most of local civilians being killed. The loot, captured by Cossacks, had a total cost of 40 thousand Rubles. In 1592, the residents of Chernihiv had a conflict with the Cossacks, who had attacked the Russians near Pryluky and forced them to withdraw, capturing their horses. While the initial Ukrainian raids were nothing more than a looting, some of their further invasions were direct attempt of settlement on the Russian territories. As of the last decade of XVI century, “Cherkassians” were actively attacking Russian stanitsas and other settlements, and it was harder or the Russian government to fight the Cossacks than the Tatars. In the summer of 1598, the Cossacks once again invaded Russia. This time, a Russian unit led by Konstantin Myasnoy, which was sent to pursue the retreating Tatars, blocked the path for Cossacks and defeated them. The activization of Cossack campaigns in Russia appeared with the beginning of Dimitriads and a subsequent Polish–Russian war. Particularly, during Sahaidachny’s campaign to Moscow, the Cossacks captured and plundered several Russian cities. Following the siege of Moscow, which led to a peace talks, parts of the Cossacks deserted from the main army and started looting Russian territories. On November 30, the Cossacks attacked Vologda but were forced to withdraw after an artillery attack by the Russians. On 4 December, the Cossacks devastated Kaluga and besieged the Russian garrison in a fortress. The siege was lifted on 1 of January 1619 after the Cossacks received an order from Władysław IV. In 1631, the Cossack raiders had defeated the Russian unit of ataman Grigory Kaidalov. In 1646, the Russians defeated a Cossack detachment. The “Thievish Cherkassians” lost two killed and one captured.

The border conflicts were also taking place during the Vyhovsky’s rebellion and the Left-bank uprising, but these were not a frequent invasion but rather a border raids with a goal of diverting the Russian troops.