A small Polish–Lithuanian force of about 5,000 under Great Lithuanian Hetman Janusz Radziwiłł stopped the Russian force under knyaz Yakov Cherkassky at Shklow and camped at Hołowczyn.

He learned that a Russian force under knyaz Aleksey Trubetskoy crossed Drut River near Ciecierzyn on 23 August.

[8] Radziwiłl was joined by the Field Lithuanian Hetman Wincenty Korwin Gosiewski with 3,000 strong forces, increasing the Polish–Lithuanian army to about 6,000[2]–8,000.

[3] Radziwiłł and Gosiewski then tried to stop a numerically superior Russian force of 15,000[2] near Shepeleviche (Szepielewicze).

[3] His defeat meant that Russians faced no opposition in Lithuania, and they were able to take Polotsk, Vitebsk and Mogilev, advancing to the Berezina River.