Igor Rurikovich - prince of great Kievan Rus. Based on what is written in the annals, Igor ruled in 915-945. Igor Rurikovich was a direct descendant of Rurik, the husband of Princess Olga and the father of Svyatoslav. Igor is considered the first Old Russian prince.
Pechenegs
By the end of the 9th century, before Igor became prince, some nomads - Pechenegs - appeared near the Russian lands. They shot well with their guns, and were also excellent riders. The Pechenegs looked fierce and wild. Igor Rurikovich was the first to fight and defend his lands from the Pechenegs. Riding on steppe horses, the Pechenegs rushed at the enemies. They were tricky. If they could not defeat the enemy, they ran away, forcing him to run after them. This was done in order to lure the enemy into the ring and attack from the rear.
The first trip to Byzantium
The foreign policy of Igor Rurikovich was quite aggressive. However, his main goal was the desire to create the most comfortable conditions for Russian merchants to trade.
In 941, Igor decided to conduct a military campaign against Byzantium, but his plans were destroyed. The Bulgarians from the Danube informed Byzantium of the attack. The Byzantine emperor decided to give battle to Igor and his army.
He gathered a large army consisting of a large number of ships. Igor’s army was not ready for such a rebuff. On the ships of the Byzantines used fire shells, which consisted of oil, sulfur, tar and other substances. They could not even be put out with water. Therefore, fire shells were a terrible enemy force. Those Russian soldiers who managed to survive the battle remembered these events with horror. They said that the Greeks shot them with lightning. Byzantium managed to defeat the army of Prince Igor.
Second trip to Byzantium
Prince Igor Rurikovich wanted to erase the shame of defeat, so he decided to organize a campaign in the Greek lands for the second time. For this, Igor paid the Pechenegs to fight for him. He went with his squad by land, and sent the Pechenegs by sea. However, Igor’s plans were again violated. The emperor was warned again. Having decided to avoid a collision, having gathered a squad, the emperor decided that it was better to pay off Igor and the Pechenegs than to fight again. The Greeks sent several merchants to meet the prince to conduct a deal. Merchants met him on the way to Byzantium. There they made a proposal to abandon the war. Gathering a squad, Igor Rurikovich decided that it was better to accept gifts than to participate in the war. The Byzantine emperor also sent rich gifts to the Pechenegs. Agreeing to these conditions, the prince deployed troops and went home. A year later, Prince Igor Rurikovich signed a peace treaty with Byzantium. Igor tried to subordinate the East Slavic associations to his power throughout his reign.
Campaign in the Caspian lands
In 913, Igor Rurikovich was going to make a trip to the Caspian lands. He launched 500 ships into the water and went across the Black Sea straight to the Sea of Azov, and further along the Don to the Volga. There was one problem: the road to the Caspian lands passed through the Khazars. It was impossible to just pass through their lands - this required the personal permission of the ruler. Igor managed to negotiate with the Khazars. They missed him, as well as his army, but demanded in return half of what they would get in the Caspian.
In the Caspian lands, Russians behaved like wild animals. Robbed, killed residents, burned houses and churches, captured women. In general, Igor managed to get a huge booty. Together with the booty and his army, he went home. But the verbal agreement between the Khazars and the prince was violated. The Khazars wanted to take all the booty from Igor, but he refused. As a result of this terrible three-day battle, Igor’s army was defeated, and the Khazars took possession of all the booty without leaving their lands. The surviving part of the soldiers fled up the Volga, but there they were forced to engage in battle with the Bulgarians.
Such is the foreign policy of Igor Rurikovich - decisive, aggressive and merciless. He tried to make his country richer by attacking his "neighbors."
Tribute increase
In 945, the squad expressed its displeasure. This was due to their financial situation. After listening to the claim, Igor decided to go for tribute to the Drevlyans. Since the Drevlyans did not participate in the battle of Byzantium, they were obliged to pay tribute to Prince Igor. He almost doubled it, despite the fact that during its collection the army mocked people, burned houses and plundered villages. Drevlyans had to endure it. However, Igor crossed all borders. Such was the domestic policy of Igor Rurikovich.
Igor's death
After another collection of tribute on the way home, Igor Rurikovich decided that he had collected too little tribute. He sent most of the troops home, and with the squad he turned back. For the Drevlyans, this was a shock, and they could not come to terms with it. Due to the fact that this time the army of Igor was too small, the Drevlyans decided to defeat him, and they succeeded. The Drevlyans themselves executed the riches themselves.
According to the annals, the prince was tied by them to the stretched trees. After the trees were released, Igor broke into two parts. Princess Olga cruelly avenged the Drevlyans for this act. She executed all the elders, killed many representatives of the civilian population, burned the earth, and also imposed a tremendous tribute to the Drevlyans, more than it was under Prince Igor. With the support of Igor’s squads and boyars, Olga began to rule Russia until the time when Igor’s son, Svyatoslav, grew up.