AHistoryIndependent states
The Great Stand on the Ugra River (1480)
The standoff on the Ugra between Akhmat Khan of the Great Horde and Ivan III of Moscow, which ended almost without battle and is counted as the end of Russia's dependence on the Horde.
By the 15th century the Golden Horde had broken into several khanates, and Akhmat was khan of the Great Horde, regarded as its heir. When Grand Prince Ivan III of Moscow stopped paying tribute, Akhmat marched on Moscow in 1480, having allied with Casimir IV, king of Poland and Lithuania.
In October the armies of the Horde and Moscow faced each other on the two banks of the Ugra near Kaluga. The Horde's attempts to cross were beaten back by Russian guns and archers. Akhmat waited for help from Lithuania, but Moscow's ally, the Crimean khan Mengli Giray, attacked Lithuania and Casimir could not come.
As the cold set in, in mid-November, Akhmat withdrew. He was killed in January 1481 by Ibak, khan of Sibir, and the Great Horde was destroyed by the Crimean Khanate in 1502. Russian historiography counts the Stand on the Ugra as the formal end of Russia's dependence on the Horde.
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Updated: November 11, 2026