[6] According to a widely-held view, the traditional rules of hereditary succession dictated that one could only become grand prince of Kiev if one's father or elder brother had sat on the same throne before oneself, although the precise order is not apparent.

[8][9] When Yaropolk tried to install his nephew Vsevolod Mstislavich of Novgorod and Pskov as the new prince of Pereyaslavl, his younger brother Yuri Dolgorukiy of Rostov-Suzdal challenged him, and war broke out.

[12] Uncle Yuri Dolgorukiy (progenitor of the Yurievichi of Suzdalia) also fiercely protested that his claim to Kiev preceded that of his nephew Iziaslav II, and even managed to temporarily drive him out of the capital twice.

[13] Meanwhile, Yuri and Gleb attacked Kiev successfully in 1149, driving out Iziaslav, but they soon withdrew, and were unable to conquer the crown principality during the protracted battle for Pereyaslavl.

[13] Only after expelling him did Yuri gain hold of Kiev until he himself died in 1157, putting Gleb in Pereyaslavl, another son in Novgorod in 1155, and other Yurievichi relatives in Turov and their family domain of Suzdalia.

[15] However, his father Davyd Sviatoslavich had never sat on the throne of Kiev, making him izgoi, and he was unable to extend his authority in other Kievan Rus' principalities.

[4] The Yurievichi remained in control of Pereyaslavl (Gleb) and Suzdalia (Andrey Bogolyubsky), while Novgorod elected Rostislav of Smolensk's son – a Mstislavichi prince – in 1157.

'[4] The Mstislavichi and Yurievichi branches of the Monomakhovichi clan jointly dominated Kievan Rus', and cooperated to ensure dynastic stability throughout the reign of Rostislav.

[4] The senior Mstislavichi line controlled capital Kiev, Smolensk, Volynia, and Novgorod, while the junior Yurievichi branch reigned in Suzdalia and the crown principality of Pereyaslavl.

[citation needed] In 1169, Andrey Bogolyubsky gathered a large army, which included Murom, Smolensk, Polotsk, Chernihiv, and Dorogobuzh princes, and marched on Kiev.

[18] The two accounts agree on the following factual descriptions: a military campaign was undertaken at the order of Andrey Bogolyubsky against the city of Kiev and Mstislav Iziaslavich, whom both apparently recognised as the (lawful?)

[19] The writer of the Suzdal'–Vladimirian Chronicle agrees that the city was sacked as a just punishment for its inhabitants' sins, but treats Kiev as an enemy,[19] promoting the Yurievichi (Vladimir-Suzdalian) branch of the Monomakhovichi dynasty instead.

[23] Trying to regain control of Kiev, Andrey Bogolyubsky sent another large coalition army (50,000 soldiers according to the Kievan Chronicle, but historians think this is exaggerated[24]), combining the forces of 20 princes.

[25][23] Andrey's attempts to increase his princely authority at the expense of the positions of boyars, bishops, city officials and the veche led to internal strife.

[26] His death triggered a Suzdalian war of succession; after several years of struggle (1174–1177), Andrey's brother Vsevolod the Big Nest ascended the throne of Vladimir-Suzdal.

[17] Ukrainian historian Mykhailo Hrushevsky (1905) described the event as: "A whole cloud of princes of the Rus' moved to destroy Kyiv to the glory of its northern rival.

[citation needed] Russo-American historian George Vernadsky (1948) wrote: 'It was characteristic of Andrei that he did not go to Kiev after the seizure of the city by his troops but had the Kievan throne occupied by minor princes whom he treated as his vassals.

[2] Jaroslaw Pelenski (1987) deduced that the primary justification for the Sack of Kiev provided in the Suzdal'–Vladimirian Chronicle was based on an earlier theological dispute concerning fasting on holy days which took place in Suzdal' in 1164.

[20] According to Lev Gumilev (1992), 'the Kiev pogrom testified to the loss of a sense of ethnic and state unity with Rus' among the population of Zalesye'.

Andrey Bogolyubsky's order shows,' from Lev Gumilev's point of view, 'that for him and his army' (that is, Suzdalian, Chernigovian and Smolensk soldiers) 'Kiev in 1169 was as foreign as any German or Polish castle.

[17] Iryna Kostenko and Maryna Ostapenko (2022) wrote that Andrey sought to made Vladimir in Suzdalia "a second Kiev" by stealing the Icon of the Blessed Mother of God from Vyshhorod in 1155 (which would later become the most revered shrine of the Russian Empire).