In what year did the Mongols sack Kiev?

The Mongols sacked Kiev in 1240. The city fell during the Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus after a siege from 28 November to 6 December, ending in a decisive Mongol victory.

Kiev was then one of the most important political and cultural centers of the Rus' world. Batu Khan led the campaign, while the veteran commander Subutai helped direct the wider military operations. The Mongols had already conquered several Rus' principalities, including Ryazan, Vladimir, Pereyaslavl, and Chernigov, before turning on Kiev.

After Kiev’s walls were breached, fighting continued inside the city. Many inhabitants were killed, the city was looted, and large sections were burned. Medieval accounts differ on details and casualty figures, but they agree on the destruction and the city’s submission to Mongol power.

A common mix-up is 1237, the year the Mongols began their invasion of northeastern Rus', and 1239, when they captured Chernigov. The sack of Kiev itself occurred in 1240. Its fall opened the route toward Poland and Hungary.