Russian-Cossack army led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky and Vasily Sheremetev went to the relief of besieged by the Polish-Lithuanian army Uman. When commander of the Polish army Stanisław Potocki and Stanisław Lanckoroński learned about the march of the Russians and Cossacks, discontinued siege and together with an army of Crimean Khanate went out to meet them. Part of Polish troops led by Szemberg was to guard trapped in Okhmativ, numbering 2000 soldiers, Puszkarenko group. While the main force moved on January 29 in the north. The entire Polish-Tatar army marched in expanded battle array. Russian-Cossack army went in laager formation.