It was part of the Kievan succession crisis of 1015–1019 that broke out between the brothers after the death of prince Volodimer I of Kiev (1015).

[1] Similar but divergent narratives are found in the Older and Younger Editions of the Novgorod First Chronicle (NPL).

[3] Sviatopolk was opposed by Yaroslav, who gathered a large army in Novgorod and then marched south.

[5][2] Sviatopolk's army was defeated, and he fled to his father-in-law, the Polish duke Bolesław I the Brave.

[5] At the same time, the literature suggests that Yaroslav's opponent in the battle of Lyubech might not have been Sviatopolk, who, according to Thietmar of Merseburg fled to Poland immediately after Volodimer's death, and Mstislav the Brave[10] or Sviatoslav the Derevlian.