Russia's greatest military defeats - With dreams of conquest come terrible defeat. A look at some of Russia's failures on the battlefield.

© Getty Images

Rus'–Byzantine War (941) -

The Rus' people originated from present-day Sweden. In the 9th century, they formed a state known in historiography as Kievan Rus'. The modern nations of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine all claim Kievan Rus' as their cultural ancestors. The Rus'–Byzantine War of 941 took place during the reign of Igor of Kyiv (877–945) when his forces twice laid siege to Constantinople. On both occasions the Rus' were beaten back by a Byzantine army loyal to Constantine VII, though the second attack resulted in the Rus'–Byzantine Treaty of 945, which established friendly relations between the two sides.

© Public Domain

Sviatoslav's invasion of Bulgaria (967/968–971 CE) -

Rus' ruler Sviatoslav I (943–972) was encouraged by his ally the Byzantines to attack Bulgaria. This he did successfully. Later, however, the allies turned against each other. In the ensuing military confrontation, the Byzantine emperor John I Tzimiskes led an army and seized Bulgaria in 971, effectively ending the peace treaty agreed upon by both sides in 945. Pictured is a meeting of Sviatoslav with Emperor John Tzimiskes.

© Public Domain

Rus'–Byzantine War (1043) -

In another doomed attempt to take Constantinople, Yaroslav I of Kyiv (c. 978–1054), also known as Yaroslav the Wise, led a naval raid against the city. Depending on what account you read, the Rus' fleet was either annihilated by a superior imperial fleet or destroyed by a violent storm. Either way, this was the final engagement in the long-running war between the two powers.

© Getty Images

Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus' (1237–1240) -

The Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus' in the 13th century was part of a wider assault on Europe by an army led by Mongol ruler Batu Khan (c. 1205– 1255). The defeated Rus' principalities were forced to submit to Mongol rule and became vassals of the Golden Horde, or khanate. The invasion had profound consequences for Eastern Europe, leading as it did to the division of the East Slavic people into three separate nations: modern-day Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus.

© Getty Images

Siege of Moscow (1382) -

The 1382 siege of Moscow pitted Muscovite forces against Tokhtamysh, a prominent khan of the Blue Hoard and supported by Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur. After initial success repelling the invaders, the Muscovites were tricked into opening the city gates, thus allowing Tokhtamysh's troops to storm Moscow and slaughter thousands.

© Public Domain

Battle of Belyov (1437) -

The decision by Vasili II of Moscow to send a huge army against Tatar statemen and Khan of the Golden Hoard Ulugh Muhammad was nothing short of disastrous. The Russian army was obliterated in what became known as the Battle of Belyov, fought on December 5, 1437.

© Public Domain

Livonian War (1558–1583) -

The Livonian War was a prolonged military conflict during which Russia unsuccessfully fought Poland, Lithuania, and Sweden for control of greater Livonia—in the territory of present-day Estonia and Latvia.

© Getty Images

Ingrian War (1610–1617) -

The bloody Ingrian War between the Swedish Empire and the Czardom of Russia was essentially an attempt to put a Swedish duke on the Russian throne. While this ambition proved ultimately unsuccessful, Sweden claimed huge territorial gains with the Treaty of Stolbovo. Pictured is a depiction of the 1611 Battle of Novgorod.

© Getty Images 

Smolensk War (1632–1634) -

In the fall of 1632, hostilities began between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia when Russian forces tried to capture the city of Smolensk. It was part of a wider attempt by Russia to reconquer lands lost to Poland-Lithuania in the Truce of Deuline (1619). Instead, it led to another truce being agreed upon, 1634's Treaty of Polyanokva, by which Russia accepted Polish–Lithuanian control over the Smolensk region, which lasted for another 20 years.

© Public Domain

Russo-Persian War (1651–1653) -

Armed conflict broke out between the Safavid Empire and the Czardom of Russia in the North Caucasus after Russia was excluded in Safavid plans to strengthen its position in the region. This decision was made because of Russia's own expansion of its military presence in the area, namely the construction of a series of fortresses, one of which was built on the Iranian side of the Terek River.

© Public Domain

Sino-Russian border conflicts (1652–1689) -

For 37 years, a series of intermittent skirmishes between Chinese and Russian forces culminated in those of the Qing dynasty laying siege to the Cossack fort of Albazin. The subsequent Treaty of Nerchinsk in 1689 ceded land to China.

© Public Domain

Battle of Narva (1700) -

The Battle of Narva was an early military engagement in the Great Northern War in which a Swedish relief army under Charles XII of Sweden defeated a Russian siege force three times its size. Ultimately, however, Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe.

© Public Domain

Russo-Ottoman War (1710–1713) -

Also known as the Pruth River Campaign, the Russo-Ottoman War reached its zenith on July 18-22,  1711 when a combined force of 43,000 Russians and Moldavians under Czar Peter I found themselves surrounded by 200,000 well-armed Turks. The Czar's depleted army was eventually allowed to withdraw after agreeing to abandon the fortress of Azov and its surrounding territory.

© Getty Images 

Peter the Great's Khivan War (1717) -

The invasion in 1717 by Russian troops under the overall command of Peter the Great of the Khanate of Khiva (present-day western Uzbekistan, southwestern Kazakhstan, and much of Turkmenistan) ended in disaster when the Russians, having routed the Khivans, proposed surrender terms to their vanquished foe. Pretending to surrender, the Khivans suggested the Russians take possession of five towns to facilitate their occupation. The Russians agreed, only for the Khivans to mount a series of sneak attacks on the five towns one by one, slaughtering most of the Czarist incumbents.

© Getty Images 

Battle of Austerlitz (1805) -

The Battle of Austerlitz, part of the War of the Third Coalition, was one of the most important and decisive military engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. Indeed, it's regarded as the greatest victory achieved by Napoleon, when the Grande Armée of France defeated a larger Russian and Austrian army.

© Getty Images 

Battle of Friedland (1807) -

Another victory for Napoleon during the War of the Fourth Coalition, the Battle of Friedland forced Russia's emperor Alexander I to accept French terms at the Treaty of Tilsit, which left Napoleon the undisputed master of western and central Europe.

© Getty Images 

Crimean War (1853–1856) -

Fought mainly on the Crimean Peninsula between the Russians and the British, French, and Ottoman Turkish, the Crimean War was a particularly brutal conflict that marked a turning point for the Russian Empire. Defeat left the army weakened, drained the treasury, and undermined Russia's influence in Europe.

© Getty Images

Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905) -

Rival imperial ambitions led to the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire taking up arms against one another in a brief military conflict that was nevertheless frightening in its savagery, exemplified by the Battle of Mukden fought from February 20 to March 10, 1905—one of the largest land battles to be fought before the First World War World and the last and the most decisive major land battle of the Russo-Japanese conflict. Japan emerged as victor, a result that proved critical in ending the war in their favor.

© Getty Images 

First World War (1914–1918) -

The Russian Empire fared badly during the First World War, with an estimated 1,811,000 Russian combatants killed and 1.5 million civilian deaths recorded. Of far greater consequence was the collapse of the Romanov dynasty and the fueling of the Russian Revolution.

© Getty Images 

Battle of Tannenberg (1914) -

The Battle of Tannenberg, fought between August 26–30, 1914, resulted in the almost complete destruction of the Russian Second Army by German forces.

© Getty Images 

Latvian War of Independence (1918–1920) -

The defeat in 1920 of Soviet Russia by the newly proclaimed Republic of Latvia after the Soviets invaded the country on December 1, 1918  resulted in Latvia winning its independence. Pictured: the Northern Latvian Army by the gates of Riga.

© Public Domain

Estonian War of Independence (1918–1920) -

Similarly, the defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Bolshevik westward offensive of 1918–1919, led to Estonia declaring its independence. Pictured is the first celebration of Estonian Independence Day in Tallinn on February 24, 1919.

© Public Domain 

Lithuanian–Soviet War (1918–1919) -

Lithuanian victory against Soviet aggression on August 31, 1919 saw the expulsion of Bolshevik forces from the newly independent nation. Pictured: Soviet prisoners of war taken during conflict.

© Public Domain

Polish–Soviet War (1918–1921) -

Violence erupted between Soviet Russia and Poland in the wake of the German defeat in the First World War across territories formerly held by the Russian Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The decisive Polish victory resulted in the establishment of the Russo-Polish border that existed until 1939. Pictured is Minsk in ruins.

© Getty Images 

First Battle of Kiev (1941) -

While the Soviet Union achieved many historic victories throughout the Second World War, the German encirclement of Kyiv from August 23 to September 26, 1941—considered the largest encirclement in the history of warfare (by number of troops)—was an unprecedented defeat for the Red Army. Pictured is a Soviet unit captured in the battle being directed to a shed for interrogation.

© Getty Images 

Soviet-Afghan War (1979–1989) -

The invasion by the Soviet Union of Afghanistan in 1979 began what was essentially a Cold War-era proxy war, with the United States, among other countries, siding with the Mujahideen who resisted their occupiers for a decade. The war has been cited by scholars as a contributing factor to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.

© Getty Images 

First Chechen War (1994–1996) -

The declaration of a ceasefire by the Russian Federation after two years of fighting against Chechen rebels was seen as a climbdown by Boris Yeltsin's government. A peace treaty was drawn up in 1997. 

Sources: (Britannica) (CERS) (Review of International Studies)

See also: All the countries Russia has invaded

© Getty Images