When Kyiv Came for Moscow: The Forgotten Campaign of 1618

In 1618, something happened that Russia prefers not to remember.

Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny, together with a Cossack army, marched all the way to Moscow — and set its outskirts on fire.

Yes, exactly that.

He was not defending.
He was not retreating.
He advanced and struck at the very heart of Muscovy.

Ukrainian Cossacks marched hundreds of kilometers, taking cities one after another. Livny, Yelets, Dankov, Ryazan fell with little resistance. Muscovite garrisons fled or surrendered outright.

When the Cossacks approached Moscow, panic erupted inside the city. Suburbs burned, supply routes were cut, and communications collapsed.

Sahaidachny did not storm the Kremlin for only one reason: political agreements with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. But Moscow had already been brought to its knees.

The result was decisive.

Muscovy was forced to sign the Deulino Truce.
It formally recognized the loss of vast territories.
Ukrainian lands returned under the authority of Kyiv, not Moscow.

And all of this happened without tanks, missiles, or a “second army of the world.”

Only discipline.
Strategy.
And Cossack will.

This is the fact that shatters a long-standing myth: Moscow did not always “take Kyiv.”

History also knows moments when Kyiv came for Moscow.

Sahaidachny proved one enduring truth: Muscovy understands only force. And when that force is applied, it burns.

This page of history cannot be rewritten.

Because the ashes of Moscow in 1618 are also part of Ukraine’s memory.

EMPR