Muscovite-Lithuanian War, First

Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow, considers himself an heir to the fallen Byzantine Empire and defender of the Orthodox Church.

He also proclaims himself sovereign of all Rus' and claims patrimonial rights to the former lands of the Kievan Rus'.

Such ambitions are backed up by the steady growth of Muscovite territory and power.

The Mongol Yoke in Russia had ended after the Great stand on the Ugra river with Akhmat Khan of the Golden Horde in 1480.

Moscow had extended its influence to the Principality of Ryazan in 1456, annexed the Novgorod Republic in 1477 and Principality of Tver in 1483.

Further expansionist goals of Ivan III clash with Lithuanian interests.Around 1486–1487, territories along the ill-defined Lithuanian–Muscovite border in the upper reaches of the Oka River were under attack by the Muscovy allied with Meñli I Giray, khan of the Crimean Khanate The tensions continued to rise.

In August 1492, without declaring a war, Ivan III begins large military actions, capturing and burning Mtsensk, Lyubutsk, Serpeysk and Meshchovsk, raiding Mosalsk, and attacking the territory of the Dukes of Vyazma.

Orthodox nobles begin switching sides to Moscow as it promises better protection from military raids and an end to religious discrimination by Catholic Lithuanians.

Ivan III officially declares war in 1493, but the conflict soon ends.

The Grand Duke of Lithuania, Alexander Jagiellon, sends a delegation to Moscow to negotiate a peace treaty.

An "eternal" peace treaty is concluded on February 5, 1494.

The agreement marks the first Lithuanian territorial losses to Moscow: the Principality of Vyazma and a sizable region in the upper reaches of the Oka River.

The lost area is estimated to be approximately 87,000 km2 (34,000 sq mi).

A day before the official confirmation of the treaty, Alexander Jagiellon is betrothed to Helena, daughter of Ivan III (the role of the groom is performed by Stanislovas Kęsgaila as Alexander is in Poland).

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