On September 8, 1380, Grand Prince Dmitri Donskoi of Moscow led a coalition of Russian forces to a historic victory over the Golden Horde at the Battle of Kulikovo. The battle, fought near the Don River, was a turning point in Russian history, demonstrating that the Mongol-Tatar yoke could be challenged and breaking the myth of Tatar invincibility. Although the Golden Horde would later retaliate, the victory at Kulikovo became a powerful symbol of Russian national unity and resistance to foreign domination.

The Battle of Kulikovo is one of the most celebrated events in Russian literary history, inspiring a rich body of epic poetry, chronicles, and hagiographical writings that glorified the victory and its leaders. The most famous literary work associated with the battle is the 'Zadonshchina,' a poem that draws on the imagery of the Igor Tale to celebrate the Russian triumph and mourn the fallen. The battle's literary legacy has endured for centuries, with Russian poets from the 19th-century Romantics to the Soviet era drawing on the Kulikovo myth to explore themes of national identity, sacrifice, and the struggle against tyranny.