Smolensk War (1512 – 1514)
Nicholas Zharkikh
The war between the Grand Duchy of Moscow and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which began in 1512, clearly showed the changing balance of power in Eastern Europe.
On July 31, 1514, the Muscovites, under the command of the Grand Duke of Moscow, Vasyl III, besieged Smolensk. Their advanced detachments advanced further west to the Berezina (approximately 230 km from Smolensk) and showed a clear intention to capture the entire Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
The Lithuanian army pushed the Muscovites east and defeated them in a major battle near Orsha (110 km west of Smolensk). However, the Lithuanians did not have enough strength to recapture Smolensk, which until 1611 was part of the Muscovite state.
The demarcation that emerged at the end of 1514 was fixed by the truce of 1522. This border, changing its status, still serves as the state border of Russia and Belarus today. In this work, I want to consider the prerequisites, course, and consequences of the war.
How to read? For a general idea, I advise you to start from the end, with "Conclusions".
Anyone who wants to learn more about the course of this war can look into the section "Course of events", or take a look at the one I’ve put together source reading list and draw your own conclusions. For reference, I compiled "Chronology of events".
Today’s fireworks display was quite rich and loud, lasting in several waves from 1:00 to 7:15. The most notable were three distant but well-audible explosions at about 1:20, then artillery fire and a close explosion at 5:10, then the fire – the sound of the Shahed flying over – a close explosion at 6:10 (well, you can just check the clocks) and another check of the clocks at 7:10 – an unusual sound of the flight, which grew very quickly, and immediately a close explosion. This sound was not like the whining sound of a propeller-driven Shahed, which grows quite slowly. This sound is most similar to a motorcycle traveling at high speed. Perhaps it was a jet Shahed, although the sound was not at all like the sound of a turbojet engine (but maybe I just haven’t heard many such engines).
about the consequences in all 3 districts of the left bank of Kyiv and in the Holosiivskyi district, and also mentioned ballistic missiles. Two deaths are already known (October 22, 2025 at 7:40).
Outside the window, relatively distant gunfire and another distant explosion can be heard (October 22, 2025 at 7:44 a.m.).
, already 25 wounded in Kyiv. And I noticed: when I note “near explosions” – these are all explosions in the air, that is, the sounds of anti-aircraft fire. There are no reports of any hits / destruction near where I live (October 22, 2025 at 2:00 PM)
: 30 injured in Kyiv, damage in 6 districts, most of them in Darnytsky and Dniprovsky (I live in the latter). With such auspices my new job starts (October 22, 2025 at 8:09 PM).
In Kyiv, October 22, 2025 – April 16, 2026 (1337-1513 days of our righteous war against the Muscovite Horde).
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