The russian raid on Amastrida in 907

The article examines the historical plot of the Rus raid on the Byzantine city of Amastrida, located on the southern coast of the Pontic Sea. The source of information about this event is the "Life of George of Amastrid". The author compares this manuscript with other documents of that era — "The Bertinsky Annals", "The Life of Stephen of Sourozh", the work of Nikita Paflagon, the homily of Photius. This approach allows us to conclude that the raid took place in 907. The events in Amastrid became one of the episodes of Oleg the Prophet's campaign against Byzantium. Unable to storm Constantinople, the Russian squad engaged in plundering coastal cities. At the same time, the miracle described in the "Life of George of Amastrid" has a rational explanation — the conclusion of a peace treaty between Russia and Byzantium, which stopped the plundering of the South Pontic coast by the Russians. That is why the campaign of Oleg the Prophet was not widely reflected in Byzantine sources, but was described in the ancient Russian chronicles in sufficient detail. The earlier dates of the Rus raid on Amastrida proposed by modern researchers do not correspond to the historical situation set forth in ancient sources. By the time of the attack, the Rus were already a barbarian people well-known to the Byzantines.