On April 30, 1632, the Polish king Sigismund III died, and this event gave Moscow Rus an excuse to violate the terms of the Deulino Truce. The Zemsky Sobor supported the decision of Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich, after which a mustering of troops was announced. Cossacks and children of boyars left the southern outskirts, moving under the banners of the voivode Mikhail Shein, which caused the garrisons of border fortresses to thin out noticeably. The Crimean khans took immediate advantage of this, launching a swift raid on the southern districts.
As a result, the campaign to liberate Smolensk had to be postponed until autumn. The approach of a major war became increasingly palpable in the air, and the head of the city, Samuil Sokolinsky, ordered preparations for a long and difficult siege.