Standoff on the Ugra River (1480)

Timeline

1. 1480Moscow · RussiaIvan III gradually stopped paying tribute to the Golden Horde in the 1470s and annexed Rus principalities to centralize power. In 1480 Khan Akhmat led a western campaign intending to restore suzerainty and tribute over Moscow, bringing the conflict into the open.
2. 1480Ugra River crossing · RussiaIvan III ordered his brothers Andrey Bolshoy, Boris, and others to defend the riverbank while the grand prince himself remained in the rear. Akhmat's repeated attempts to cross were repulsed by Russian forces, with only small-scale clashes and stalemate. Lithuanian Grand Casimir IV had promised to aid Akhmat in a pincer attack on Moscow, but raids by the Crimean Khanate (Ivan III's ally Mengli Giray) kept him from acting, and his reinforcements never arrived.
3. 1480Ugra River · RussiaAkhmat withdrew due to supply shortages, the threat of Lithuanian reinforcements, and internal instability. Moscow thereafter ceased paying tribute to the Golden Horde, and the Tatar Yoke ended politically. The Golden Horde rapidly declined while Moscow turned to unifying Rus and proclaiming itself the 'Third Rome'.