1237–1240Reputable sourceWell documented
The Conquest of the Rus' and the Sack of Kiev
On the timeline · around 1237–1240 ·
What happened
A great western campaign under Genghis Khan's grandson Batu and the veteran general Subutai fell on the Rus' principalities. Riding out of the frozen steppe, the Mongols stormed and burned Ryazan and Vladimir, and in December 1240 took Kiev after a short siege, putting its people to the sword and reducing the once-great city to ruins.
Why it matters
The conquest of the Rus' subjected the Russian lands to more than two centuries of Mongol overlordship, and the destruction of Kiev shifted the center of gravity of Russian history northward toward Moscow.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. The Mongol Invasion of Europe · Reputable source