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The Mongol Invasion of Russia was an invasion of the medieval state of Kievan Rus' by a large army of nomadic Mongols, starting in 1223. The invasion precipitated the breakup of Kievan Rus' and influenced development of Russian history, including rise of the Moscow principality.

As it was undergoing fragmentation, Kievan Rus' faced its greatest threat from invading Mongols. In 1223 an army from Kievan Rus', together with a force of Turkic Polovtsians (Cumans), faced a Mongol raiding party at the Kalka River. The Kievan alliance was defeated soundly. Then in 1237- 1238 (after conquering of Volga Bulgaria in 1236), a much larger Mongol force overran much of Kievan Rus'. In 1240 the Mongols sacked the city of Kiev and then moved west into Poland and Hungary. Of the principalities of Kievan Rus', only the Republic of Novgorod escaped occupation, but it paid tribute to the Mongols. One branch of the Mongol force withdrew to Saray on the lower Volga RiverFor other meanings of the word Volga see Volga (disambiguation The Volga river ( Russian #x301 Tatar Idel Mordvin Mari German Wolga in Western Russia, Europe's longest river, with a length of 3,690 km (2,293 miles), provides the core of the largest river, establishing the Golden HordeThe Golden Horde (also known as Kipchak Khanate was a Tatar state established in present day Russia by Batu Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan. It was one of the four Mongol successor kingdoms in the wake of the Mongol empire, the others being the Ilkhanate. From Saray, the Golden Horde Mongols ruled Kievan Rus' indirectly through their princes and tax collectors.

The influence of the Mongol invasion on the territories of Kievan Rus' was uneven. Centers such as Kiev never recovered from the devastation of the initial attack. The Republic of Novgorod continued to prosper, however, and a new entity, the city of MoscowMoscow ( Russian: Moskva capital of Russia, located on the river Moskva, and encompassing 878. The city's population is rapidly increasing, with 11. 2 million inhabitants counted in 2004. The city is in the federal district called Central Russia (which is, began to flourish under the Mongols. Although a Russian army defeated the Golden Horde at Kulikovo in 1380Events September 8 Battle of Kulikovo Russian forces under Grand Prince Dmitrii Ivanovich defeat a mixed army of Tatars and Mongols (the Golden Horde), stopping their advance at Kulikovo. September 16 Charles V of France dies and is succeeded by his son C, Mongol domination of the Russian-inhabited territories, along with demands of tribute from Russian princes, continued until about 1480Events Ivan III becomes Tsar of the Russians Moscow becomes independent from the Empire of the Golden Horde of the Mongols. Ludovico Sforza becomes Regent of Milan (reigns until 1499) Concorts and co-rulers Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella of Castile i (see Great standing on the Ugra riverThe Great standing on the Ugra river c in Russian, also (Ugorschina in English, derived from Ugra)) was a bloodless standoff between Akhmat Khan, Khan of the Big Horde, and Grand Duke Ivan III of Russia in 1480, which resulted in the retreat of the Tataro).

Historians have debated the long-term influence of Mongol rule on Russian society. The Mongols have been blamed for the destruction of Kievan Rus', the breakup of the ancient Russian nationality into three components, and the introduction of the concept of "oriental despotism" into Russia. But most historians agree that Kievan Rus' was not a homogeneous political, cultural, or ethnic entity and that the Mongols merely accelerated a fragmentation that had begun before the invasion. Historians also credit the Mongol regime with an important role in the development of Muscovy as a state. Under Mongol occupation, for example, Muscovy developed its postal road network, census, fiscal system, and military organization.

Kievan Rus' also left a powerful legacy. The leader of the Rurik Dynasty united a large territory inhabited by East Slavs into an important, albeit unstable, state. After Vladimir accepted Eastern Orthodoxy, Kievan Rus' came together under a church structure and developed a Byzantine-Slavic synthesis in culture, statecraft, and the arts. On the northeastern periphery of Kievan Rus', those traditions were adapted to form the Russian autocratic state.