During the chaotic era known as Russia's Time of Troubles, an unidentified adventurer claimed to be Dmitry Ivanovich, the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible, who had supposedly survived assassination attempts twice. Appearing in 1607, this second impostor, known to history as False Dmitry II or the Thief of Tushino, gathered a formidable army of Cossacks, Polish mercenaries, and disaffected Russian nobles. Unable to capture Moscow outright, he established his headquarters in the nearby village of Tushino in 1608.
For over two years, Tushino functioned as an astonishing mirror government to Moscow. False Dmitry II created his own royal court, appointed ministers, issued royal decrees, collected taxes, and awarded land titles. He even retained the support of Marina Mniszech, the widow of False Dmitry I, who publicly recognized him as her miraculously resurrected husband to legitimize her own royal status.
Nobles constantly defected between Moscow's Tsar Vasily Shuysky and the Tushino court based on opportunism, earning them the nickname Tushino turncoats. The dual-power structure turned Tushino into a bustling, illegitimate capital with tens of thousands of residents. However, the fragile coalition dissolved when Polish King Sigismund III invaded Russia directly, fracturing the rebel forces.
False Dmitry II fled Tushino disguised as a peasant in late 1609, leaving behind an incredible legacy of political theater.