According to the chronicle, while Sviatoslav I was pursuing his campaign against the First Bulgarian Empire, the Pechenegs (in all probability, bribed by Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus Phocas) invaded Rus and besieged his capital of Kiev (Kyiv).

While the besieged suffered from hunger and thirst, Sviatoslav's general Pretich deployed his druzhina, his personal guard, on the opposite (left) bank of the Dnieper, not daring to cross the river against the larger Pecheneg force.

When the boy reached the opposite bank and informed Pretich about the desperate condition of the Kievans, the general decided to make a sally in order to evacuate Sviatoslav's family from the city, for fear of his sovereign's anger.

Upon receiving the message, Sviatoslav speedily returned to Kiev and thoroughly defeated the Pechenegs, who were still threatening the city from the south.

He intended to move the capital of his realm there because he considered it a more strategic location due to its proximity to trade routes.