In February 1238 the Mongols took Vladimir, capital of the strongest Rus’ principality. The grand prince was away raising an army; the city fell in days and his family perished in the flames of its cathedral.
The siege of Vladimir in February 1238 destroyed the capital of the most powerful principality of northern Rus’. The city fell in days, and the grand prince’s family died in the burning cathedral, breaking organised resistance in the north-east.
From the ruins of Ryazan the Mongols swept north, wiping out a Rus’ army at Kolomna and burning Moscow. Grand Prince Yuri II of Vladimir left his capital to raise fresh forces in the north, leaving Vladimir to his sons and its defenders.
Batu’s army surrounded Vladimir on 3 February 1238 and brought up siege engines. Within days the walls were breached, and on 7 February the Mongols stormed in. The princes fell, and the grand princess and her family, sheltering in the Cathedral of the Assumption, perished when it was fired.
The great churches and the treasures of the city were destroyed, and much of the population was killed or enslaved.
With Vladimir gone, Batu detached forces to run down the grand prince, who was gathering an army to the north on the Sit River. The two would meet there in March 1238.