It was fought near the village of Molodi, 40 miles (64 km) south of Moscow, in July–August 1572 between the 120,000 horde of Devlet I Giray of Crimea and about 60,000–70,000 Russians led by Prince Mikhail Vorotynsky.

While the Tsardom of Russia was involved in the Livonian War, the Crimean khan hoped to make profit from the weakness of its southern borders.

On 26 July 1572 the huge horde of the khan, equipped with cannons and reinforced by Turkish janissaries, crossed the Oka River near Serpukhov, decimated the Russian vanguard of 200 men, and advanced towards Moscow in order to pillage it once again.

The large amount of close-in fighting made the Tatars' famed skill in archery quite useless:[6] The battle was fought principally with sabers and spears.

After the battle, only 20,000 Tatar horsemen returned to the Crimea,[6] while the khan left his tent and banner on the battlefield and barely managed to escape alive.