Warfare

From the ninth to the thirteenth centuries, warfare in Kievan Rus took place across a changing political landscape centred on Kyiv and extending through the Dnieper region, forest-steppe and northern river networks. These lands lie today chiefly in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, and Rus was connected to both the Baltic and Black Sea regions. Its armies were not a single, uniform force: princes drew on personal retinues, town communities, rural levies and, at times, outside allies or hired warriors.

The organisation of warfare shifted over these centuries. Early forces included tribal levies; princely retinues became an important core, while town regiments and more locally based forces gained prominence in different regions and periods. Conflict with steppe peoples influenced the growing use of cavalry, while rivers, fortified towns and long-distance supply shaped how campaigns were fought.

On this page5 sections

Princely retinues and the forces behind them

A prince’s druzhina was his armed retinue and close circle of followers. The term did not always describe one fixed military institution: it could mean a small group of personal guards or a wider princely household and entourage. Retinue members fought on campaign, advised the prince and could also take on administrative or judicial duties.

Boyars often occupied senior positions in a prince’s retinue, advising him and commanding troops. Junior followers carried out orders and provided armed service. Princes supported their households with revenues and a share of campaign booty. Personal loyalty mattered: a dissatisfied follower could leave and seek service with another prince.

The retinue provided a ready military core, supplemented by forces called up for a particular campaign. Town communities could raise contingents through a veche, or public assembly, and might ask a prince for weapons and horses. Recruiting, provisioning and transporting larger forces connected military campaigns to the resources of towns and rural communities.

Military organisation also varied by region. As principalities became more distinct in the twelfth century, princely courts and forces drawn from boyar landholders grew in importance. The influence of town assemblies and popular regiments declined in many places, but Novgorod remained an exception. Princes also employed or allied with warriors from outside their own lands. Sources mention Varangians, a term associated with Scandinavian warriors, as well as Pechenegs, Hungarians and other regional groups.

Infantry, cavalry and weapons

Infantry remained important throughout the period. Its members included townspeople and, in some campaigns, people drawn from the countryside. Their equipment varied with means and circumstances. Spears and axes were practical weapons; bows, arrows and throwing spears also had a place. Swords were less common among less well-equipped forces than among elite warriors. Infantry could fight in the field, take part in assaults on towns, protect an army’s rear and carry out engineering or transport work.

At first, horses were often more useful for movement than for fighting: warriors could travel mounted and then fight on foot. As mounted combat became more important, especially in the south where armies faced steppe forces, princely retinues developed into a mobile cavalry core. In the eleventh century cavalry became comparable in importance to infantry, and later could be more prominent. Even then, mounted warriors did not always fight from horseback. During Prince Igor’s campaign against the Cumans in 1185, he and his followers dismounted when surrounded rather than abandon the foot soldiers with them.

Retinue members were generally better equipped than ordinary levies. Mail armour consisted of interlocking iron rings; lamellar armour used small plates laced together. Helmets protected the head and shields helped turn blows and missiles. Spears, swords and bows served different fighting roles, and both infantry and mounted troops used bows. The cost of armour and weapons made a fighter’s resources important to his equipment.

Formations and steppe warfare

As armies grew more organised, they could be divided into polks, or regiments. A common arrangement placed a central force between two wings. The units were not always identical: infantry could hold the centre, with cavalry on the flanks, while the composition of each force depended on who had been summoned. Standards gave troops a point of reference in battle, and musical instruments also helped direct or identify forces.

Conflicts with Pechenegs and Cumans, also known in Rus sources as Polovtsians, put a premium on mobility and rapid response. In 968, the Pechenegs threatened Kyiv, forcing the prince to interrupt a campaign to protect the city. In 1036, Rus forces fought a decisive battle against the Pechenegs in three regiments. A later example shows that steppe opponents could also be defeated in the field: in 1068, Sviatoslav of Chernihiv won at the Snov against a Cuman force.

Princes used alliances and local contingents as well as their own forces. Some Pechenegs, Torks and Berendei who had been driven from the steppe by the Cumans settled near the southern Rus frontier and served princes there. Their readiness could help meet smaller raids quickly. In 1185, Igor’s campaign against the Cumans ended with his forces surrounded, illustrating the risks of operating far from support. In 1223, Rus princes joined the Cumans in a campaign against the Mongols at the Kalka River.

Rivers, supplies and fortified towns

Rivers carried troops and supplies towards campaign areas and the Black Sea. Rus forces used fleets of boats, including vessels called ladii, for transport and naval operations. Such expeditions could face Byzantine warships. In 941, a Rus fleet was defeated with Greek fire, a burning mixture projected against enemy vessels.

Campaigns depended on keeping people and horses moving. A chronicle’s account of Sviatoslav’s forces describes a light way of travelling: they carried no wagons or tents, used pack horses and cooked meat over embers. Longer expeditions could put considerable strain on troops. A chronicle describes Daniel of Galicia’s forces campaigning for about five months in 1235 as an exceptional effort, followed by exhaustion and defeat in a decisive battle.

Fortified towns and frontier strongholds served as bases for defence and military control. Princes built fortresses on the steppe frontier, while the walls of towns could become the focus of a siege. After the end of the tenth century, a city might be taken by blockade or surprise, but armies also fought in the field near settlements. Siege engines required skilled work to build and maintain. In 1153, stone-throwing machines breached a fortified enclosure at Novgorod-Seversky; their use became more prominent in the thirteenth century.

Conquest and the changing military landscape

The Mongol campaigns brought a sharp break in the political setting of Rus warfare. After the Mongol invasion of 1237–1241, many cities, including Kyiv, were sacked, and the region’s political divisions deepened. Some principalities were destroyed, while others continued under growing pressure from the Tatars, Sweden and Lithuania.

For the wider setting, see Kievan Rus historical context.