Ukrainian journalist: "Let's borrow from the US Constitution, they're not using it anymore"

In the fall of 1239 AD, Batu Khan and his Golden Horde were making great progress in their rapid advance into Europe.

The Mongol Empire was in the midst of global conquest, and Batu’s army had been devastating cities across the Russian plain.

He stopped briefly after taking Chernihiv (in northern Ukraine) and sent his cousin Mongke with a vanguard force to probe Kiev, the capital of Kievan Rus.

At the time, Kievan Rus was one of the greatest powers in Europe, forming a loose federation of Slavic principalities that stretched from the Black Sea to the White Sea.

Kiev had been founded nearly eight centuries before, and by 1239 it was a grand capital with some 50,000 inhabitants. Mongke was quite taken with it. And, not wanting to destroy it, he sent an emissary to discuss terms for their surrender.

Apparently Kiev’s Prince Mikhail had just watched the movie 300… because he put the Mongol emissary to death.

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