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Sviatoslav's Campaigns

Type Event Region Eastern Europe Time 964–972

Between 964 and 972 CE, Grand Prince Sviatoslav I of Kievan Rus' launched a series of large-scale campaigns, conquering Volga Bulgaria, destroying th…

Timeline

  1. 964–965Volga Bulgaria · Volga regionSviatoslav led his army south along the Volga, captured Bulgar, destroyed the Volga Bulgarian khanate, and controlled the trade routes to the Caspian and the East.
  2. 967–971Lower Danube · BulgariaAnswering a Byzantine request, Sviatoslav marched south, capturing Pereyaslavets, Preslav, and other major Bulgarian cities, deposing Tsar Boris II, and establishing his capital at Pereyaslavets, provoking direct conflict with Byzantium.
  3. 971–972Dnieper rapids · UkraineAfter his defeat at Dorostolon, Sviatoslav withdrew north and was ambushed and killed by the Pechenegs near the Dnieper rapids; his skull was made into a drinking cup, and Rus' Balkan expansion came to an end.

Sources