Sviatoslaf, having committed his mother to the tomb, made immediate preparations to transfer his capital from Kief to the more genial clime of Bulgaria.  Had he been influenced by statesmanlike considerations it would have been an admirable move.  The climate was far preferable to that of Kief, the soil more fertile, and the openings for commerce, through the Danube and the Euxine, immeasurably superior.  But Sviatoslaf thought mainly of pleasure.

It was now the year 970.  Sviatoslaf had three sons, whom he established, though all in their minority, in administration of affairs in the realms from which he was departing.  Yaropolk received the government of Kief.  His second son, Oleg, was placed over the powerful nation of Drevliens.  A third son, Vlademer, the child of dishonor, not born in wedlock, was intrusted with the command at Novgorod.  Having thus arranged these affairs, Sviatoslaf, with a well-appointed army, eagerly set out for his conquered province of Bulgaria.  But in the meantime the Bulgarians had organized a strong force to resist the invader.  The Russians conquered in a bloody battle, and, by storm, retook Peregeslavetz, the beautiful capital of Bulgaria, where Sviatoslaf established his throne.

The Greeks at Constantinople were alarmed by this near approach of the ever-encroaching and warlike Russians, and trembled lest they should next fall a prey to the rapacity of Sviatoslaf.  The emperor, Jean Zimisces, immediately entered into an alliance with the Bulgarians, offering his daughter in marriage to Boris, son of their former king.  A bloody war ensued.  The Greeks and Bulgarians were victors, and Sviatoslaf, almost gnashing his teeth with rage, was driven back again to the cold regions of the North.  The Greek historians give the following description of the personal appearance of Sviatoslaf.  He was of medium height and well formed.  His physiognomy was severe and stern.  His breast was broad, his neck thick, his eyes blue, with heavy eyebrows.  He had a broad nose, heavy moustaches, but a slight beard.  The large mass of hair which covered his head indicated his nobility.  From one of his ears there was suspended a ring of gold, decorated with two pearls and a ruby.

As Sviatoslaf, with his shattered army, ascended the Dnieper in their boats, the Petchenegues, fierce tribes of barbarians, whom Sviatoslaf had subdued, rose in revolt against him.  They gathered, in immense numbers, at one of the cataracts of the Dnieper, where it would be necessary for the Russians to transport their boats for some distance by land.  They hoped to cut off his retreat and thus secure the entire destruction of their formidable foe.  The situation of Sviatoslaf was now desperate.  Nothing remained for him but death.  With the abandonment of despair he rushed into the thickest of the foe, and soon fell a mangled corpse.  How much more happy would have been his life, how much more happy his death, had he followed the counsels of his pious mother.  Kouria, chief of the Petchenegues, cut off the head of Sviatoslaf, and ever after used his skull for a drinking cup.  The annalist Strikofski, states that he had engraved upon the skull the words, “In seeking the destruction of others you met with your own.”