Svyatopolk

…as Volodymyr’s eldest surviving son, Sviatopolk the Accursed, killed three of his brothers and seized power in Kyiv. His remaining brother—Yaroslav, the vice-regent of Novgorod—with the active support of the Novgorodians and the help of Varangian (Viking) mercenaries, defeated Sviatopolk and became the grand prince of Kyiv in 1019. Under…

…bitter struggle against his brother Svyatopolk (1015–19), nor his successors in Kiev were able to provide lasting political stability within the enormous realm. The political history of Rus is one of clashing separatist and centralizing trends inherent in the contradiction between local settlement and colonization on the one hand and…