In the historical literature, it is believed that the sons of Vladimir Krasnoe Solnyshko, Saints Boris and Gleb, were killed by their elder brother Svyatopolk. But was it really so? Who else benefited from the death of the brothers?
Svyatopolk (nicknamed the Cursed One) was actually the son of Grand Duke Yaropolk, who was killed by Vladimir Krasnoe Solnyshko. Vladimir after the death of Yaropolk adopted Svyatopolk. It is known from history that after the death of Vladimir Svyatopolk seized power in Kiev and killed Boris and Gleb. Thus, he took revenge on Vladimir for the murder of his father and at the same time eliminated the pretenders to the Kiev throne. However, there was another rival in the struggle for the Kiev throne - Yaroslav (nicknamed the Wise in the 19th century), the son of Vladimir.
Yaroslav did not really like that his father kept Boris, his beloved son, with him. And, of course, Yaroslav could not help but assume that the Kiev throne would go to Boris after Vladimir. Although Yaroslav, in turn, was older than Boris and had more rights to inherit Kiev after his father. At the same time, historians say that Boris, who was on a campaign against the Pechenegs at the time of Vladimir's death, having learned about the seizure of power by Svyatopolk, did not argue with him about his rights to the throne. So why then Svyatopolk to kill Boris, and then also his brother Gleb. Maybe the murder, in fact, was committed by order of another person, and Svyatopolk, simply put, was framed and portrayed in literature as a fratricide?
The question of who is actually responsible for the death of Boris and Gleb remains unanswered today.
