According to the sources of the Byzantine writer-historian Procopius of Caesarea of the 6th century, the ancient Slavs-Ants in the wars with Byzantium in the 6th century. acted with organized forces. In the period of the 9th-10th centuries. the army in Russia consisted of mounted squads and infantry. The troops of Kievan Rus consisted of princely squads and represented the germ of future feudal squads and the people's militia (remnants of the military democracy system). The Kiev prince, in addition to the squad, also had a fleet that operated both on the Dnieper and Danube rivers and on the Black Sea.
In the era of feudal fragmentation of Russia (12th-14th centuries), the bulk of the prince's army consisted of detachments of large landowners (boyars), staffed by the prince's vassals and "people" (slaves). But the number of this princely army was small, and therefore, in necessary cases, at the call of the Grand Duke, appanage princes, boyars and small patrimony ("boyar's children") came to him with their detachments. The main part of the Russian troops consisted of cavalry, but infantry (militia) played a more significant role. Of particular note is the successful use of infantry (militia) by Alexander Nevsky in the Battle of the Neva (1240), Lake Peipsi (1242) and Dmitry Donskoy in the Battle of Kulikovo (1380).
The liberation of Russia from the Mongol-Tatar yoke took place in 1480, exactly one hundred years after the Battle of Kulikovo. Why does the victory at Kulikovo Field in 1380 occupy a more significant place in our minds than the final victory over the Golden Horde? Although all comparisons are conditional, let's turn to events of a huge scale that are quite close to us – the Great Patriotic War. What was the most significant battle against the Nazis? The battles that determined the winners were the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Kursk. The war did not end after them, but the course of the war and its outcome were determined. A man needs to carry a heavy load over the mountain. How difficult is the path to the truth! My strength is running out, so it seems that everything has run out. I want to drop the load, sink down next to him on the rocks and die. But a person, if he has the courage, gets to the top – even if he crawls, and when he looks back from the top, when he sees the terrible steepness that he overcame, then the further path, even if it is also dangerous and difficult, will seem possible to him. And he will go through it with joy and enthusiasm. The Battle of Stalingrad was for the Soviet people the most difficult uphill climb, from the top of which the road to victory opened. And the Battle of Kulikovo for the Russian people became a milestone event in the fight against the Mongol-Tatars.