Battle of the Sudoma River (1021)

The battle on the Sudoma River is the fourth of the battles of the power struggle between the descendants of Vladimir the Saint, which occurred in 1021 on the Sudoma River, between the army of the Grand Prince of Kiev Yaroslav Vladimirovich and the army of his nephew Bryachislav Izyaslavich of Polotsk. The chronicle of the confrontation disagrees with the presentation of the same events in the Scandinavian sources

History
In 1019, Yaroslav, having won the battle on the river Alta, was finally established at the Kiev reign. In 1021 Bryachislav made a predatory raid on Novgorod. Yaroslav, who was at that time in Kiev, assembled the army, within 7 days covered a distance of about 800 km and intercepted the army of his nephew, returning with many prisoners to Polotsk. According to one version, Yaroslav won and freed the Novgorodan captives. Bryachislav allegedly fled to Polotsk, but Yaroslav did not pursue him. The version presented by the Scandinavian "Eymunda Saga" looks more plausible: the troops came together, but the battles did not happen. The Norman mercenaries from the Bryachislav's army were able to enter the camp and managed to kidnap the wife of the prince of Kiev, Ingegerd (Irina) while she was traveling along the forest road with the guards. Learning about that, Yaroslav was forced to enter into negotiations and agree to the terms of Bryachislav, although he had a preponderance in strength. The prince of Polotsk freed the prisoners of Novgorod, returned Ingegerd, in return, having achieved peace, having retained all of his possessions and, in addition, having received two important cities on the trade route - Vitebsk and Usvyat. The outcome of this confrontation was not in Yaroslav's favor.