Draft:Siege of Kiev (1036)

The Siege of Kiev in 1036 by the Pechenegs of the capital of Kievan Rus, started after the death of the Chernigov prince Mstislav the Brave and during the departure of Yaroslav the Wise from Kiev to Novgorod.

It is described in the "Primary Chronicle". It was the last invasion of Pechenegs into Rus'.

History
In 1036 Yaroslav became autocrat in the Russian land, uniting the Kiev and Chernigov sides of the Dnieper under his rule, when his brother Mstislav died in Chernigov without heirs. Yaroslav went to Novgorod to put his then eldest son Vladimir there.

Having learnt about the beginning of the siege of Kiev by Pechenegs, Yaroslav returned to the south with Varangians and Slovenes. With these forces he broke inside the besieged Kiev, and together with local forces made a general sortie.

Yaroslav applied the battle order, which was dismembered into three regiments along the front, which was used by Mstislav in the unsuccessful for Yaroslav battle of Listven (1024). Yaroslav's druzhina (Vikings) stood in the centre, Kievers on the right flank, Novgorodians on the left. The battle lasted all day and has ended with full victory of Russian and flight of Pechenegs. During the escape a lot of Pechenegs drowned in Setomli and other rivers.

Implications
The chronicle associates with this victory the construction of St Sophia Cathedral in Kiev on the site of the battle (although there are also versions of its earlier construction) and the construction of a new Kiev fortress, "Yaroslav's Castle".

After the defeat of the Pechenegs near Kiev and the defeat of the Torks by the three Yaroslavichs and Vseslav Polotsk (1060), the Cumans began to dominate the steppes.

Links

 * https://www.ukrlib.com.ua/books/printit.php?tid=13465 Primary Chronicle