The invasion of Russia

The pretender's chosen route for his march on Moscow approached the Russian capital from the south-west, crossing the frontier near Kiev. In contrast to the more northerly road, which was barred by the well-fortified border town of Smolensk, this route passed through the smaller towns of the Seversk district, and was conveniently close to the territory of the Zaporozhian and Don cossacks, from whom the pretender still hoped to obtain backing. More importantly, Dimitry's path to Moscow took him through that south-west frontier region where the discontent of the service class was greatest, and where fugitive military bondsmen from the centre had gathered in significant numbers during the famine years. The pretender was careful to prepare the ground in advance, sending agents ahead of him to distribute proclamations and appeals to his Russian subjects.

At the time when Dimitry's army was preparing to cross the Lithuanian frontier into Russia, it comprised about 2,500 men, about half of whom were Ukrainian cossacks. These cossacks were mostly servitors of the Polish crown; the Zaporozhians declined to play a part, and a large detachment of them went off to fight the Turks on the Black Sea instead. The number of Russians in Dimitry's army at this time was relatively small: only about 200 men, most of whom were apparently from the lower classes rather than the nobility. The handful of nobles included a certain Ivan Poroshin, and the brothers Khripunov who had ‘recognised’ Dimitry in Craców.