July 3 — is the day of glorification of Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich (about 942—972). On this day, it was customary for the Slavs to hold ritual duels, military initiations and glorify Perun.
Russian historian N.M. Karamzin called it «Alexander (Macedonian) of our ancient history». According to Academician B.A. Rybakova: «Svyatoslav’s campaigns of 965—968 are, as it were, a single saber strike that drew a wide semicircle on the map of Europe from the Middle Volga region to the Caspian Sea and further along the North Caucasus and the Black Sea region to the Balkan lands of Byzantium».
Svyatoslav, Grand Duke of Kiev, — son of Igor and Olga, who largely ruled the state under her son (until her death in 969), since the prince spent all his time on military campaigns. In 964—966, Svyatoslav undertook his first independent major campaign: the liberation of the Vyatichi from the power of the Khazars and their subordination to Kyiv. This was followed by campaigns on the Volga and the North Caucasus, and the defeat of the Khazar Khaganate.
In 967 or 968, using a proposal from Byzantium, which sought to weaken its neighbors Rus' and Bulgaria by pitting them against each other, Prince Svyatoslav invaded Bulgaria and settled at the mouth of the Danube, in Pereyaslavets. The Byzantine government, in order to prevent Svyatoslav's confirmation in Bulgaria, sent Pechenegs to Kyiv. He returned to defend the capital, but, having recaptured the Pechenegs, he again came to Bulgaria.
Around 971, Svyatoslav, in alliance with the Bulgarians and Hungarians, began to fight Byzantium. After a battle with a superior Byzantine army at Greater Preslav and Dorostol, withstanding a three-month siege with his army, Svyatoslav Igorevich made peace with Byzantium in 971. On the way back to Kyiv, Prince Svyatoslav at the Dnieper rapids died in battle with the Pechenegs, whom the Byzantine government warned of his return.
Svyatoslav went down in the history of Ancient Rus' as a striking example of military valor. His speech before the last decisive battle with the Byzantines near Dorostol — is evidence of a high understanding of the significance of military honor in ancient Russian society: «We will not disgrace the Russian Land, we will lie here with bones. The dead do not have shame. If we run, we will disgrace ourselves. Let's become strong. If my head falls, make a living about yourself». The vigilantes answered him: «Where your head falls, there we will lay down our heads».
Unlike his predecessors, who preserved Scandinavian traditions, Svyatoslav was the first Slavic Russian prince.