Landing in the night beneath the high and precipitous banks near the town, he placed a number of his soldiers in ambuscade, and then calling upon the princes of Kief, informed them that he had been sent by the king of Novgorod, with a commercial adventure down the Dnieper, and invited them to visit his barges.
The two sovereigns, suspecting no guile, hastened to the banks of the river.

Suddenly the men in ambush rose, and piercing them with arrows and javelins, they both fell dead at the feet of Oleg.

The two victims of this perfidy were immediately buried upon the spot where they fell.
In commemoration of this atrocity, the church of St.Nicholas has been erected near the place, and even to the present day the inhabitants of Kief conduct the traveler to the tomb of Ascolod and Dir.

Oleg, now marshaling his army, marched triumphantly into the town, and, without experiencing any formidable opposition, annexed the conquered realm to the northern kingdom.
Oleg was charmed with his conquest.

The beautiful site of the town, the broad expanse of the river, the facilities which the stream presented for maritime and military adventures so delighted him that he exclaimed, "Let Kief be the mother of all the Russian cities." Oleg established his army in cantonments, strengthened it with fresh recruits, commenced predatory excursions on every side, and soon brought the whole region, for many leagues around, under his subjection.