Siege of Belaya The siege of Belaya was the final military episode of the Smolensk War . The heroic defense of the fortress by its small Russia n garrison against a big army of the Polish - Lithuanian king Władysław IV Vasa baffled his plan to march against Moscow and made him sign the Treaty of Polyanovka in which he relinquished his claims of the Russian throne . Previous events . The small fortress of Belaya which fell into the hands of the Commonwealth during the Time of Troubles was liberated by the Russian army during its offensive in 1632 . It became guarded by a garrison of 1 , 000 soldiers under the commandership of the voivode Fyodor Volkonsky . He already distinguished himself in 1618 during the defence of Moscow against Władysław IV as well as during his successful operations against Crimean Tatar raids . During the fortuneless siege of Smolensk for the Russians , Volkonsky tried to help the voivode Mikhail Shein by attacking Polish detachments , capturing the Polish baggage , attracting the enemy ' s forces and repelling their attacks . After Shein ' s situation worsened and he signed the capitualation treaty , king Władysław IV who still claimed to be the legitimate Russian Tsar intended to deepen his success and moved his army towards Moscow . On his way to Russian capital he wanted to capture the small fortress Belaya . Course of the siege . When the Polish army approached Belaya , the king sent negotiators who demanded an immediate surrender to avoid the king ' s " wrath " . Otherwise the garrison and the citizens were to be punished by death . The envoys reminded Volkonsky of the capitulation of Shein . However , Volkonsky decisively refused by saying that Shein was not an example to him . The defenders of Belaya decided to fight till the bitter end and filled up the fortress gate with earth . The Polish - Lithuanian army tried to storm the fortress but suffered heavy losses and broke the storm off . After that a siege started but it proved to be unsuccessful , too . The Commonwealth soldiers tried to blow up the fortifications of Belaya with the help of a subsurface mine but the engineers ' calculations weren ' t precise enough . The explosion made no harm to the fortress but killed 100 Polish infantry . After several new storming attempts the Poles succeeded in destroying parts of the wall but the defenders managed to repel Władysław ' s mercenaries and even to conduct a counter - attack . They captured eight Polish standards , crushed the elite mercenary unit of Weyher and injured the king himself . For Władysław the siege of the small fortress became a matter of honour and he decided to continue the siege at any price . From the military point of view it was a mistake because the freezing temperatures and the lack of food more and more decimated his army . Because of the big losses ( according to modern estimations , 4 , 000 men ) , the Poles called Belaya ( literally , the White fortress ) the Red fortress . The siege lasted eight weeks and three days . Meanwhile , a 10 , 000 men strong Russian army led by the princes Dmitry Cherkassky and Dmitry Pozharsky gathered at the neighbouring Mozhaysk . The Polish - Lithuanian side which suffered from hunger and desertions and was not ready for new battles initiated peace talks . Consequences . Due to the steadfastness of the Belaya defenders , in June 1634 the Treaty of Polyanovka was signed . It reinforced the borders which were defined by the truce of Deulino of 1618 . The Russians handed over several towns they took during the war back to the Commonwealth but could keep Serpeysk . The Polish - Lithuanian king officially gave up his claims to the Russian throne . The garrison commander Fyodor Volkonsky was celebrated in Moscow as a hero . The eight captured Polish standards were exhibited in the Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin . He was granted the rank of okolnichy by Michael Romanov as well as large estates .