Yaroslaf, who had been entrusted with the feudal government of Novgorod, being informed of the death of his father, of the usurpation of Sviatopolk and of the assassination of three of his brothers, raised an army of forty thousand men and marched upon Kief.

Sviatopolk, informed of his approach, hastened, with all his troops to meet him.

The two armies encountered each other upon the banks of the Dnieper about one hundred and fifty miles above Kief.

The river separated them, and neither dared to attempt to cross in the presence of the other.

Several weeks passed, the two camps thus facing each other, without any collision.
At length Yaroslaf, with the Novgorodians, crossed the stream stealthily and silently in a dark night, and fell fiercely upon the sleeping camp of Sviatopolk.