The Livonian War, which Ivan had started in 1558 after the Livonian Confederation refused to pay tribute to Russia, has dragged on for more than a decade, damaging the Russian economy and military.

The combination in the the 1560s of the very poor harvests (the period called the little ice age), the plague, Polish-Lithuanian raids, Tatar attacks, and the sea-trading blockade carried out by the Swedes, Poles and the Hanseatic League have devastated Russia.

Ivan becomes mentally unstable and physically disabled as the Oprichnina continues: he can easily pass in one week from the most depraved orgies to prayers and fasting in a remote northern monastery.

One of the most odious leaders of the Oprichnina, Grigory Luk'yanovich Skuratov-Belsky, better known as Malyuta Skuratov, rises to prominence in 1569 by taking part in the trial and execution of Vladimir of Staritsa, Ivan IV's only cousin and possible claimant to the throne.

On Ivan's order, Malyuta Skuratov strangles former Metropolitan of Moscow Philip II in December of 1569 for his criticism of the Oprichnina.

As Ivan gradually grows unbalanced and violent, the Oprichniks under Malyuta Skuratov soon get out of hand and become murderous thugs.

Ivan hand-selects the Oprichnik from the worst Russia has to offer: murderers, thieves, and rapists acting as political police.

They massacre nobles and peasants, and conscript men to fight the war in Livonia.

Depopulation and famine ensue.

What had been by far the richest area of Russia has begun to become the poorest.

Ivan has implemented a policy whereby convicted criminals who expose disloyalty may expect to receive a commutation of their sentence.

One such hopeful plants a forged letter purportedly written by the metropolitan of Novgorod requesting an alliance with Lithuania, which had formally united with Poland in July, 1569.

Ivan, taking the letter as genuine, decrees the destruction of the wealthy city, which retains the last remnants of freedom and trade links with the west, then sets out to observe the process in December, 1569.