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Prince Sviatopolk I Vladimirovich of Kiev (c. 980 - 1019) was the elder son of Vladimir I of Kiev, ruler of Kiev in (1015-1019), Prince of Turov (988 - 1015).
Sviatopolk's father Vladimir put him in charge of Turov at the age of eight and later arranged his marriage with the daughter of the Polish king Boleslaus I in around 1013. The young princess came to Turov together with the Bishop of Calabria Reinbern, whose intentions are believed to have been to split the Russian Orthodox Church and the Greek Orthodox Church and subdue the former to the Roman Catholic Church. Dissatisfied with his father and induced by his own wife and Reinbern, Sviatopolk began preparations for war against Vladimir, probably counting on support from his father-in-law. Vladimir soon found out about Sviatopolk's intentions and threw him, his wife and Reinbern in prison. Not long before Vladimir's death, Sviatopolk was freed from prison and sent to govern the town of Vyshgorod not far from Kiev. When Vladimir died in 1015, Sviatopolk's retinue concealed his death from him due to the fact that he, being Vladimir's oldest son, could claim the Kievan throne. It didn't take long for Sviatopolk to find out about his father's demise and he seized power in Kiev almost immediately. The citizens of Kiev did not show much sympathy for Sviatopolk and, therefore, he decided to distribute presents in order to win them over. Then, he decided to rid himself of his brothers' claims for the Kievan throne. Boris was the one who presented most danger to him, because he had been in charge of Vladimir's druzhina (personal guards) and army and enjoyed the support of the citizens. Sviatopolk sent his men to assassinate Boris, then Gleb and Sviatoslav. Even though family feud wasn't something unusual back then, Sviatopolk's cold-blooded reprisal earned him the nickname of the Accursed (Окаянный). The news of this triple murder reached Sviatopolk's younger brother Yaroslav, Prince of Novgorod, who decided to go to war against Sviatopolk with the support from the citizens of Novgorod and the varangians. The battle took place not far from Lubech. Sviatopolk was defeated and fled to Poland. Later, he returned to Rus, defeated Yaroslav with the help from his father-in-law and seized Kiev in 1017. Boleslaus I and his army remained in Rus for some time, but later had to retreat to Poland due to the increasing number attacks on the part of the Russians. On his way to Poland, he seized some of the Cherven towns. Meanwhile, the citizens of Novgorod persuaded Yaroslav to go to war against Kiev once again. Sviatopolk was defeated and fled to the steppes. Soon he returned with the Pecheneg army and attacked Yaroslav on the Alta River, but was once again defeated and fled to Poland, eventually dying on his way there.
Sviatopolk's younger brothers Boris and Gleb were later cannonized by the Russian Orthodox Church.
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