page_title: Medieval Russian army
section_title: Tactics and equipment
hierarchical_section_title: Medieval Russian army / Before the Mongol invasion / Tactics and equipment
context_page_description: The Medieval Russian army, from the foundation of Kievan Rus' till the reforms of Ivan the Terrible, can be roughly divided into the Kievan Rus' period, between the 9th to 13th century, mainly characterized by infantry armies of town militia that were supported by Druzhina cavalry; and the feudal period from 1240 to 1550, which was distinguished by cavalry armies of noble militia and their armed servants.
context_section_description: Before Mongol invasion of Rus' in the 13th century, a Prince would be accompanied by his Druzhina, a small retinue of heavy cavalry, who would often fight dismounted (eq. Battle on the Ice). Massively heavy armor was used, mostly  Scandinavian-style. However, these squads, as a rule, did not exceed the number of several hundred men, and were unsuitable for united actions under a single command.
  At the same time, the main part of the Kievan Rus' army was the militia infantry. It was inferior to Druzhina in armament and the ability to own it. The militia used axes and hunting spears ("rogatina"). Swords were rarely used, and they had no armor other than plain clothes and fur hats.
  For the infantry, consisted of poorly armed peasants and tradesmen, numbers are uncertain. The only specific numbers mentioned for the Russians are 1.700 men of Evpaty Kolovrat (The Tale of the Destruction of Ryazan) and 3.000, men under Voivode Dorozh (Battle of the Sit River). However, these were exceptionally large numbers for Russian standards at the time. In 1242, Prince Alexander Nevski in Novgorod could muster no more than 1.000 Druzhina and 2.000 militia for the Battle on the Ice. So, it is safe to estimate that, on average, a Russian Prince had hundreds of warriors in his retinue, rather than thousands.
caption: Warriors of Rurik (9th century)
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