Yaropolk history. Prince Yaropolk Svyatoslavich. Video lecture on the topic: the reign of Prince Yaropolk

Not fond of dealing with state affairs, he divided the Russian land into estates and distributed them to his sons. Yaropolk, as the eldest son, received Kiev, and after the death of his father in 972, the title of Grand Duke; Oleg began to reign on the Drevlyansky land, and Vladimir in Novgorod.

The brothers did not get along for long. After 3 years of Yaropolk's rule, a threat arose to the unity of Russia from the Drevlyan side.

Once, while hunting, Prince Oleg killed Lyut, the son of Sveneld, Yaropolk's chief adviser. The enraged Sveneld incited the prince to go to war against Oleg and take the parish away from him, he advised the Kiev prince to collect the Russian lands under one rule. Yaropolk obeyed and began a war with the Drevlyans, who had already charted a course of separation from Kiev. The Drevlyansky capital Ovruch was taken by Yaropolk. In this battle (977), Prince Oleg died, falling from a bridge into a ditch. Prince Yaropolk did not want Oleg's death and was very sad for him.

Soon the news of Oleg's death reached Novgorod. An old Russian custom demanded that Vladimir take revenge for his brother's death. Together with his uncle, the governor Dobrynya, he went to the Varangians to gather an army, and Yaropolk at this time annexed Novgorod to his possessions and put the governor there.

But Vladimir soon returned with his army and again took his inheritance, and then moved to Kiev. Prince Vladimir entered into negotiations, which on behalf of Yaropolk were conducted by the voivode Fornication. He conspired with Vladimir and persuaded Yaropolk to leave the city, saying that his position in Kiev is fragile, the squad treats him with distrust.

After listening to Blud, Yaropolk left the capital and moved to the city of Kinsfolk, and Vladimir occupied Kiev and laid siege to Kinsfolk. Famine began in Rodna. This is where the proverb came from in Russia: "The trouble is like in the family."

And again next to Yaropolk was Fornication with his advice. He recommended that Yaropolk make peace with Vladimir. Yaropolk's servant Varyazhko warned him about the conspiracy and advised him to run to the Pechenegs in order to gather an army there and reclaim the throne.

But Yaropolk, on Blud's advice, surrendered to his brother's mercy. By order of Vladimir, two Varangian warriors pierced him with swords when he went to make peace with him.

Yaropolk was left with a pregnant wife, a former Greek nun, brought to him by Father Svyatoslav from the Byzantine campaign. Prince Vladimir took her as his wife.

Yaropolk during his reign had diplomatic relations with the German emperor Otto II. In the genealogy of the German royal family, there is a record that a relative of the emperor, Count Kuno (future Swabian Duke Konrad), in the late 970s, married his daughter to the “king of rugs”. Most likely, the “king of Russia” was Yaropolk, who, simultaneously with his marriage (at that time, polygamy was widespread in Russia), was going to be baptized.

Love for Christianity Yaropolk was instilled by his grandmother, the Grand Duchess Olga. And there is even such information in the Nikon Chronicle that Yaropolk received ambassadors from the Pope. Whether Prince Yaropolk Svyatoslavovich was baptized during his lifetime is unknown, but in 1044 his nephew, Yaroslav the Wise, dug up the graves of Yaropolk and Oleg, baptized their remains (despite the fact that such an act is prohibited by Orthodox canons) and reburied next to Vladimir in the Tithes Church in Kiev.

Being offended is a trifle if you don't remember it.

Confucius

After the death of the Kiev prince Svyatoslav, three sons remained: the elder Yaropolk, the middle Oleg, and the younger Vladimir. The first two were of noble birth. Vladimir was the son of Svyatopolk from Olga's slave - Malusha. Even during the life of Svyatopolk, his children were endowed with power. The Grand Duke divided his lands between his sons, and they ruled the country while Svyatoslav was on campaigns. Yaropolk ruled Kiev. Oleg is the territory of the Drevlyans. The younger son ruled Novgorod. Moreover, the Novgorodians themselves chose this young man as their princes. This example of the division of power between sons was new for Kievan Rus. Svyatoslav was the first to introduce such a procedure. But it is precisely this division of inheritance between sons that will be a real disaster for the country in the future.

The first internecine war in Russia

As a result of the untimely death of Prince Svyatoslav, as well as because of his attempt to divide power between his sons, the first internecine war between the princes began. The reason for the war was the following event. While hunting in his domain, Oleg met the son of Sveneld, the governor of Yaropolk. Dissatisfied with this fact, Oleg orders to kill the uninvited guest. Having received news of the death of the son of his voivode, and also under the onslaught of the latter, Prince Yaropolk Svyatoslavovich decides to go to war against his brother. It happened in 977.

After the first battle, Oleg could not withstand the onslaught of the army, which was led by his older brother, and retreated to the city of Ovruch. The essence of this withdrawal was quite clear: Oleg wanted to get a respite after the defeat and to hide his army outside the city walls. Here the saddest thing happened. Hastily retreating into the city, the army staged a real crush on the bridge leading into the city. In this crush, Oleg Svyatoslavovich fell into a deep ditch. The crush continued after that. Many people and horses then fell into this ditch. Prince Oleg died crushed by the bodies of people and horses that fell on top of him. Thus, the Kiev ruler gained the upper hand over his brother. Entering the conquered city, he gives the order to deliver Oleg's corpse to him. This order was carried out. Seeing before him the lifeless body of his brother, the Kiev prince fell into despair. Fraternal feelings triumphed.

At this time, Vladimir, while in Novgorod, received news that his brother had been murdered, and decided to flee across the sea, fearing that his older brother might now want to rule alone. Having learned about the flight of his younger brother, Prince Yaropolk Svyatoslavich sent his representatives, governors to Novgorod, who were to rule the city. As a result of the first Russian internecine war, Oleg was killed, Vladimir fled, and Yaropolk became the sole ruler of Kievan Rus.

End of reign

Until 980, Vladimir was in flight. However, this year, having collected a powerful army from the Varangians, he returns to Novgorod, displaces the governors of Yaropolk and sends them to his brother with a message that Vladimir is gathering an army and is going to war against Kiev. This military campaign begins in 980. Prince Yaropolk, seeing the numerical strength of his brother, decided to avoid an open battle and with his army took up defensive positions in the city. And then Vladimir went to a cunning trick. Secretly, he entered into an alliance with the Kiev governor, who managed to convince Yaropolk that the Kievites were dissatisfied with the siege of the city and demanded Vladimir to reign in Kiev. Prince Yaropolk succumbed to these persuasions and decided to flee from the capital to the small town of Rotnya. The troops of Vladimir also went there after him. Having besieged the city, they forced Yaropolk to surrender and go to Kiev to his brother. In Kiev, he was sent to his brother's home and the door was closed behind him. There were two Varangians in the room, who killed Yaropolk.

So in 980 Vladimir Svyatoslavovich became the sole prince of Kievan Rus.

Yaropolk Svyatoslavich - the ruler of the Old Russian state. The eldest son of the great Kiev prince Svyatoslav. He ruled in Kiev in 972 - 978. He was killed in an internecine war by his younger brother.

Yaropolk Svyatoslavich - biography (biography)

Yaropolk Svyatoslavich - the ruler of the Old Russian state. Took power in Kievan Rus after his death at the hands of the Pechenegs during the Balkan campaign of his father, the prince in 972. During the internecine war of the sons of Svyatoslav in 975-978. Yaropolk contributed to the death of his brother Oleg Drevlyansky, and then he was killed on the orders of his younger brother. During his reign, the international ties of Russia were strengthened, he was an active conductor of Christianity. Yaropolk is often called the forerunner of Saint Vladimir, who baptized Russia in 988. Although, according to the chronicles, Yaropolk reigned in Russia for only 8 years, many aspects of his life and work as the head of state cause considerable controversy among researchers.

There is love between them, but in Russia there is silence

The date of birth of Yaropolk is not indicated in the sources, but it is clear that he ascended the throne, and then died at a young age. The first mention of Yaropolk in the Tale of Bygone Years is dated 968, when the Pechenegs besieged Kiev. The chronicler said that the princess took refuge with her grandchildren - Yaropolk, Oleg and Vladimir, awaiting Svyatoslav's return from the Danube.

After Olga's death, Svyatoslav in 970 again gathered on the Danube and "put" his sons in the main centers of Rus - Oleg with the Drevlyans, Vladimir, and in capital Kiev, his eldest son, Yaropolk. After the death of Svyatoslav in 972, power over Kiev was not only de facto, but also officially passed to Yaropolk. If you believe the news of the Iokimov Chronicle, at first there was “love” between the brothers, and in Russia there was “silence”.

Lyutova hunting and "accidental" death of Oleg Drevlyansky

In 975, a certain Lyut, the son of the all-powerful Sveneld, who had been a governor even during the reign of Svyatoslav, was in the heat of the hunt in the Drevlyansky land. Unfortunately, he caught the eye of the Drevlyan prince Oleg. He did not tolerate someone hunting in his lands, and ordered to kill Lyut. After that Sveneld, seeking to avenge his murdered son, set Yaropolk against Oleg and persuaded him to seize "his volost".

Apparently, the persuasion worked, because in 977, according to the chronicles, Yaropolk made a campaign in the land of the Drevlyans and won a victory in the battle with Oleg's army. During the flight of Oleg's army to Ovruch, the capital of the Drevlyans, due to the crush that arose, he was accidentally pushed into the city moat, and he died under the weight of people and horses falling from above. The chronicler colorfully describes the grief of Yaropolk, who mourned the death of his brother, but reports that Yaropolk, having grieved, established his power in the Drevlyansky land.

Learning about the death of Oleg Drevlyansky, Vladimir got scared, left Novgorod and "fled across the sea." And Yaropolk appointed his henchmen as posadniks in Novgorod, and already alone owned the entire Russian land.

Blud's intrigues and the death of Yaropolk

According to the chronicle story in 980, Vladimir returned with the Varangian squad to Novgorod, drove the people of Yaropolk, and sent him a warning that he would march against him. The Tale of Bygone Years tells that Yaropolk "shut up" in Kiev, awaiting an attack by Vladimir. But the Novgorod prince entered into an agreement with the voivode Fornication, who had a huge influence on Yaropolk. Realizing that Yaropolk in Kiev enjoys the love of the townspeople and here it will be difficult to eliminate him, Fornication lured the Kiev prince out of the city, informing him about the alleged treason being prepared by the Kievites.

Yaropolk with his army "shut up" in the small town of Rodna not far from Kiev, and Vladimir captured Kiev and, in turn, laid siege to Yaropolk in Rodna. And again the intrigues of the insidious Blood began. He persuaded Yaropolk to go personally to Vladimir and ask for peace. As soon as the Kiev prince entered the residence of Vladimir, two Varangians stabbed him to death.

It is curious that in a number of chronicles - Nikonovskaya, Joakimovskaya, etc., Yaropolk's courage and talent as a leader were emphasized. Upon learning of the return of Vladimir to Russia, the Kiev prince set out to gather a large army and march towards Vladimir himself. And only the admonitions of the traitor Blood prevented Yaropolk from taking the initiative. The traitor assured him that Vladimir would not go against his older brother, as a titmouse cannot attack an eagle. “Do not bother your army,” advised Fornication.

The Joachim Chronicle testifies to the fact that the outcome of the battle between the brothers was decided not by hostilities, but by betrayal. According to her information, the troops of Vladimir defeated Yaropolkov's regiments in the battle on the Drucha River, not far from, but won not by force and courage, but by the betrayal of the governor Yaropolk.

After killing Yaropolk, Prince Vladimir began to live "in adultery" with the wife of his late brother, a certain Greek woman. It is known from the chronicle that before her marriage to Yaropolk she was a nun. She was brought by Svyatoslav and passed off as Yaropolk because of the "beauty of her face." The chronicler testifies that at the time of Yaropolk's death, the beautiful Greek woman was already pregnant with him. The born child was named Svyatopolk. Subsequently, Svyatopolk will sadly and completely unfairly enter Russian history as the Cursed One - the murderer of his brothers Boris and Gleb. Vladimir, although he treated him like his own son, nevertheless did not love him. As the chronicler writes, for the reason that he was "from two fathers - from Yaropolk and from Vladimir."

The case with the beautiful Greek woman was not the first time when women were "divided" between brothers. Even before the campaign against Kiev, Vladimir sent matchmakers to the Polotsk prince Rogvolod, he wanted to marry his daughter Rogneda. The latter told her father that she wanted to marry Yaropolk. Rogneda were already going to be led to Kiev to Yaropolk, when Vladimir made a trip to Polotsk. Vladimir killed Rogvolod, the Rogneda brothers and took him by force as his wife.

The chronicles date the death of Yaropolk and the reign of Vladimir in Kiev to 980. However, in the composition of the XI century. “In memory and praise” to Prince Vladimir, these events date back to June 11, 978. AA Shakhmatov raised this date to the Ancient Chronicle Code he was reconstructing and believed that it had been lost and therefore did not appear in the Russian chronicles that have come down to us. Currently, most researchers are inclined precisely to the date 978, as the time of the death of Yaropolk.

Fraternal war in Russia and the international factor

Researchers have long come to the conclusion that the described case on the hunt was invented by the chronicler to explain the accidental death of Oleg during the campaign against him by Yaropolk. As A. V. Nazarenko writes, Yaropolk was the initiator of fratricide, although the chronicler tries to mitigate his guilt, focusing on Sveneld's incitement. In any case, even if the murder of Lyut took place, it served as a pretext for unleashing a struggle for autocracy in Russia by Yaropolk.

The division of Rus in 970 between the Svyatoslavichs was consolidated two years after the sudden death of Svyatoslav. Many famous researchers, both pre-revolutionary and modern - A.E. Presnyakov, A.V. Nazarenko, believed that there was no significant political dependence of the younger sons of Svyatoslav - Oleg Drevlyansky and Vladimir Novgorodsky - from their elder brother Yaropolk Kievsky. Sitting in the capital Kiev, Yaropolk decided to become the sole ruler of Russia.

The international factor also intervened in the brothers' struggle. The Nikon and other chronicles report on the diplomatic activity of Russia during the time of Yaropolk, it is reported that ambassadors came to him from the Byzantine emperor and the pope. According to the news of the Saxon annalist of the XI century. Lampert of Hersfeld, Russian ambassadors were also present at the imperial congress in Quedlinburg (Germany) on Easter 973.

Yaropolk skillfully used the contradictions between the strong powers. During the turmoil after the death of Prince Igor the Old in 945, Russia lost the so-called Cherven towns in the upper reaches of the Western Bug, which had a very important trade and economic importance. They went over to the Old Bohemian state. Yaropolk entered into an alliance with the German emperor Otto II against the Czech king Boleslav II. But as A.V. Nazarenko noted, the brothers of the Kiev prince also entered a major international political game. Prince Vladimir of Novgorod at this time married a "Czech". Oleg Drevlyansky supported Vladimir and entered into contacts with the Czech Republic. Therefore, Yaropolk first of all attacked Ovruch, and Vladimir, even before fleeing across the sea, captured Polotsk, which supported Kiev. It is not by chance that Rogneda, according to the chronicles, “wanted” to marry Yaropolk.

In general, matrimonial actions were of greater importance in the political activities of that time. Yaropolk was going to use (or used) the instrument of dynastic marriage to achieve his goals. The genealogical tradition of the well-known Swabian family of Welfs testifies to the fact that a girl from this family (a close relative of the German emperors) was married to the "king of Russia", whose name was not reported. Earlier historians saw in the latter Vladimir, but today there is convincing evidence that it was Yaropolk. The marriage of the Kiev prince consolidated the anti-Bohemian alliance with the German emperor.

From loving Christians to the Catholic sovereign of Russia

The marriage of Yaropolk to a blood relative of the German emperors naturally implied his baptism. The question of whether Yaropolk was a Christian has long worried scientists. Yaropolk's patronage of Christians is noted in all the annals. True, they emphasize that he loved Christians, but he himself "was not baptized for the sake of the people." According to Western sources - German and Italian, the German missionary bishop (most likely, it was Bruno of Querfurt) baptized Russia and Yaropolk personally. In some sources, the image of Yaropolk was exaggerated to the level of “the Catholic sovereign of Russia”. The presence in Kiev of German missionaries in the period 975-978. confirmed by many researchers.

In the disputes of historians whether Yaropolk was baptized, arguments are more and more confident that this really happened. It is no coincidence, - writes A.V. Nazarenko, that it was on the wave of pagan reaction that Vladimir came to power. In his opinion, the baptismal name of Yaropolk was Peter. And that is why, even in pre-Mongol times, the church of St. Peter, the patron saint of Yaropolk.

Non-canonical act of Yaroslav the Wise

A very important event is associated with the possible baptism of Yaropolk, about which he sparingly announces under 1044 the Tale of Bygone Years. The author reports that when they dug up from the graves the remains of two princes - Yaropolk and Oleg and christened them, then reburied in the Church of the Tithes of the Virgin.

What made Yaroslav commit non-canonical actions. After all, he directly violated church canons - one of the rules of the Council of Carthage in 397 on the prohibition of posthumous baptism. Most scholars see the actions of the Grand Duke of Kiev not so much as a religious goal, as a political one. V. Ya. Petrukhin believes that with such an action Yaroslav wanted to emphasize the inviolability of the generic character of princely power in Russia. The only thing that could preserve the order and integrity of the Russian land is fraternal love and submission to the elder brother, the Kiev prince. According to the chronicle, such a covenant was left to his sons by Yaroslav. Yaroslav “united” in the tomb of the Tithe Church the disintegrating princely family - the initiators and victims of the first strife.

However, such a symbolic union after the death of all the brothers of Svyatoslavich - Yaropolk, Oleg and Vladimir (the latter was immediately buried there) in a single burial vault did not save, as we know, Russia from fratricidal wars. Yaropolk's story became a prelude to the subsequent history of strife in Russia.

Roman Rabinovich, Cand. ist. sciences,
specially for the portal

grand Duke of Kiev (972-978)

short biography

Yaropolk Svyatoslavich (Old Russian Yaropolk Svѧtoslavich; d. June 11, 978) - Grand Duke of Kiev (972-978), the eldest son of Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich and Predslava. He fell victim to civil strife.

Kiev prince

The date of birth and mother of Yaropolk are unknown (however, Tatishchev suggests that the mother of him and Oleg Drevlyansky was a certain Ugric princess Predslava, mentioned in the treaty with Byzantium from 945). For the first time his name was mentioned in the "Tale of Bygone Years" in 968, when during the Pechenegs' raid on Kiev Princess Olga locked herself in the city with her 3 grandchildren, one of whom was Yaropolk.

Yaropolk's father, Prince Svyatoslav, before leaving for the war with Byzantium, entrusted the administration of Kiev to Yaropolk in 970. After the remnants of the Russian squad, led by Sveneld, brought the news of the death of Prince Svyatoslav in the battle with the Pechenegs at the Dnieper rapids to Kiev in the spring of 972, Yaropolk became the Kiev prince. Svyatoslav's other sons, Oleg and Vladimir, ruled over the rest of the Old Russian state.

Historian Konstantin Bogdanov wrote:

Probably, between the brothers from the very beginning, a rather difficult relationship developed. They were born of different mothers and were later raised separately. Each of them had their own relatives and mentors, to whose advice they listened much more often than they should have done. Later, the lack of mutual sympathy and trust between the brothers played a fatal role with them. The ambitions of the mentors only exacerbated the discord, which was already outlined in their children's souls and became stronger with age.

Yaropolk's reign is the time of diplomatic contacts with the German emperor Otto II: Russian ambassadors visited the emperor at the congress of princes in Quedlinburg in December 973. According to the German "Genealogy of the Welfs", a relative of the emperor Count Kuno von Ehningen (future Duke of Swabia, Konrad I) married his daughter to "King of the rugians"... According to one version, Kunigunda became the wife of Prince Vladimir after the death of his wife, the Byzantine princess Anna. Another version connects the engagement of Kuno's daughter to Yaropolk. The reign of Yaropolk is also associated with the minting of the first coins of the Old Russian state found by historians, reminiscent of Arab dirhams - the so-called "Pseudo-dirchems of Yaropolk" (just over 10 copies are known).

According to the Nikon Chronicle, ambassadors from Rome came to Yaropolk from the Pope. Yaropolk's sympathies for Christianity are reported by the controversial Joachim Chronicle known from the extracts of the historian V.N.Tatishchev:

"Yaropolk was a meek and merciful man, loving Christians, and although he himself was not baptized for the sake of the people, he did not forbid anyone ... Yaropolk is disliked by people, because he gave Christians a great will."

The baptism of Yaropolk after the death of his father Svyatoslav, who had a negative attitude towards Christianity, can also be evidenced by other, independent chronicle news.

Civil strife and death

In 977, an internecine war broke out between Yaropolk and his brothers, the prince of the Drevlyansky land Oleg and the Novgorod prince Vladimir. Yaropolk, following the persuasion of the governor Sveneld, attacked Oleg's possessions. In the struggle for the Drevlyansky city of Ovruch, Oleg died. He fell from the bridge while fleeing the Kiev squad and was crushed in the moat by other soldiers and horses. The chronicle presents Yaropolk lamenting the death of his brother, who was killed against his will. After the news of the beginning of civil strife, Vladimir fled from Novgorod "Overseas", and Yaropolk became the ruler of the entire Old Russian state.

The murder of Yaropolk. Hood. B. A. Chorikov.

In 978, Vladimir returned to Russia with the Varangian army. First, he recaptured Novgorod, then captured Polotsk and then moved to Kiev. Surrounded by Yaropolk was a traitor, voivode Fornication, who entered into an agreement with Vladimir. Fornication persuaded Yaropolk to leave Kiev and take refuge in the fortified city of Rodna on the Ros River. After a long siege, famine began in Rodna. Fornication assured Yaropolk that he should enter into negotiations with Vladimir, who did not intend to do him any harm. In turn, the youth Varyazhko persuaded his prince Yaropolk not to go out to Vladimir, since Yaropolk expects inevitable death. The latter did not heed the warnings of his youth, but Fornication still managed to convince him to enter into negotiations with Vladimir. When Yaropolk arrived to negotiate with his brother, two Varangians "They raised him with swords under the bosom".

The Tale of Bygone Years dates the death of Yaropolk and the reign of Vladimir in 980. An earlier document "Memory and Praise to Prince Vladimir" (Life of Prince Vladimir from the monk Jacob Chernorizets) gives the exact date of the reign - June 11, 978. For a number of chronological considerations, historians recognize the second date as more likely. Most likely, the murder of Yaropolk happened on June 11th.

In 1044, Yaropolk's nephew, Yaroslav the Wise, ordered to dig the bones of Yaropolk's and Oleg's uncles from the grave, baptize their remains (an act prohibited by Christian canons) and reburial them next to Vladimir in the Tithes Church in Kiev.

  YAROPOLK SVYATOSLAVICH (? -980) - Grand Duke of Kiev (972-978), the eldest son of Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich.

Date of birth and mother of Yaropolk are unknown. For the first time his name was mentioned in the "Tale of Bygone Years" in 968, when during the Pechenegs' raid on Kiev Princess Olga locked herself in the city with 3 grandchildren, one of whom was Yaropolk.

Yaropolk's father, Prince Svyatoslav, before leaving for the war with Byzantium, entrusted the administration of Kiev to Yaropolk in 970. After the remnants of the Russian squad, led by Sveneld, brought the news of the death of Prince Svyatoslav in the battle with the Pechenegs at the Dnieper rapids to Kiev in the spring of 972, Yaropolk became the Kiev prince. Other sons of Svyatoslav, Oleg and Vladimir, separately ruled the rest of Kievan Rus.

Yaropolk's reign is the time of diplomatic contacts with the German emperor Otto II: Russian ambassadors visited the emperor at the congress of princes in Quedlinburg in December 973. According to the German "Genealogy of the Welfs", a relative of the emperor, Count Kuno von Ehningen (the future Swabian Duke Konrad), married his daughter Kunigunda to the "King of the Rugians". According to one version, Kunigunda became the wife of Prince Vladimir after the death of his wife, the Byzantine princess Anna. Another version connects Kunigunda's engagement to Yaropolk.

The reign of Yaropolk is also associated with the minting of the first own coins of Kievan Rus, reminiscent of Arab dirhams - the so-called. “Yaropolk's pseudo-dirchema” (just over 10 copies are known).

According to the Nikon Chronicle, ambassadors from Rome from the Pope came to Yaropolk. Yaropolk's sympathies for Christianity are reported by the well-known historian V.N. Tatishchev's controversial Joachim Chronicle: “ Yaropolk was a meek and merciful man, loving Christians, and although he himself was not baptized for the sake of the people, he did not forbid anyone ... Yaropolk is unloved by people, because he gave Christians a great will.»

In 977, an internecine war broke out between Yaropolk and his brothers, the Drevlyan prince Oleg and the Novgorod prince Vladimir. Yaropolk, following the persuasion of the governor Sveneld, attacked Oleg's possessions. While retreating to his capital, Ovruch Oleg was crushed in a ditch by falling horses. The chronicle presents Yaropolk lamenting about the death of his brother, who was killed against his will. After the news of the beginning of civil strife, Vladimir fled from Novgorod "overseas", so Yaropolk became the ruler of all Kievan Rus.

In 978, Vladimir returned to Russia with the Varangian army. First, he recaptured Novgorod, then captured Polotsk and then moved to Kiev. Surrounded by Yaropolk, there was a traitor, voivode Fornication, who entered into an agreement with Vladimir. Fornication persuaded Yaropolk to leave Kiev and take refuge in the fortified city of Kinsfolk on the Ros River. After a long siege, famine arose in Rodna, which forced Yaropolk, under pressure from Blud, to enter into negotiations with Vladimir. When Yaropolk arrived to negotiate with his brother, two Varangians " lifted him with swords under the sinuses».

"The Tale of Bygone Years" dates the death of Yaropolk and the reign of Vladimir in 980. An earlier document "Memory and Praise to Prince Vladimir" (Life of Prince Vladimir from the Monk Jacob) gives the exact date of the reign - June 11, 978. From a number of chronological considerations, historians recognize the second date as more likely. Most likely, the murder of Yaropolk happened on June 11th.

Yaropolk left behind a widow, a former Greek nun, kidnapped for him by his father during one of the campaigns. Vladimir took her as a concubine, and she soon gave birth to a son, Svyatopolk, a child of "two fathers." According to the annals, it is not entirely clear whether the widow was pregnant before the death of Yaropolk, or became pregnant by Vladimir shortly after the capture. According to indirect evidence, Svyatopolk considered himself the son and heir of Yaropolk, and Vladimir - a usurper (for example, he took Yaroslav Vladimirovich's "stepmother and sisters" hostage, which would be strange if Svyatopolk considered himself Vladimirovich too).

In 1044, Yaropolk's nephew, Yaroslav the Wise, ordered that the bones of his uncles (Yaropolk and Oleg) be dug from the graves, their remains baptized (an act strictly prohibited by Christian canons) and reburied next to Vladimir in the Tithe Church in Kiev. If Yaropolk was baptized during his lifetime (in any case, it could only have been shortly before his death), almost seventy years later they might not have remembered this.

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