Siege of Lyakhavichy (Lachowicze) took place from 23 March to 28 June 1660 during the Russo-Polish War (1654–1667)

Russo-Polish War (1654–1667)

The Russo-Polish War of 1654–1667, also called Thirteen Years' War, First Northern War, War for Ukraine was the last major conflict between Tsardom of Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Between 1655 and 1660, the Second Northern War was also fought in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth,...

. Lachowicze was one of the major Grand Duchy of Lithuania strongholds in the disputed region (modern Belarus). A Russian army of about 30,000 under Ivan Nikitich Khovansky

Ivan Nikitich Khovansky

Prince Ivan Nikitich Khovansky was a Russian boyar and voyevoda, nephew of Ivan Andreyevich Khovansky and cousin of Taratui.Ivan Nikitich Khovansky was first mentioned in historical documents as a stolnik in 1625. It is also known that he commanded a Tula regiment between March 20 of 1628 and...

 laid siege to the castle, defended by Mikołaj Judycki. After four failed siege, Khovansky was forced to face a Polish relief army under hetman

Hetman

Hetman was the title of the second-highest military commander in 15th- to 18th-century Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which together, from 1569 to 1795, comprised the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, or Rzeczpospolita....

s Stefan Czarniecki

Stefan Czarniecki

Stefan Czarniecki or Stefan Łodzia de Czarnca Czarniecki Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth general and nobleman. Field Hetman of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom. He was a military commander, regarded as a Polish national hero...

 and Paweł Jan Sapieha

Paweł Jan Sapieha

Paweł Jan Sapieha was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman .Paweł Jan became a Hussar Rotmistrz in 1633, courtier in 1635, Obozny of Lithuania in 1638, Podstoli of Lithuania in 1645, voivode of the Witebsk Voivodeship in 1646, voivode of the Vilnius Voivodeship and Great Hetman of Lithuania in 1656.He...

, and was defeated at the Battle of Polonka

Battle of Polonka

The Battle of Polonka took place near Polonka during the Polish-Russian War on June 29, 1660 between Polish-Lithuanian and Russian forces....

. This meant the end of the siege of Lachowicze.

Lachowicze was the only fortress of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Grand Duchy of Lithuania

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...

 that evaded capture by Russians during that war. Due to a legend that it was protected by the Mary, mother of Jesus

Mary (mother of Jesus)

Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...

 it was compared to Jasna Góra (which recently withstood a similar siege).