…Tzimiskes' forces proceed to lay siege to the northern fortress of Dorostolon, where Sviatoslav had been forced to flee.

The imperial army is reinforced by a fleet of three hundred ships equipped with Greek fire.

There are several engagements before the walls of the city, which demonstrated to the Greeks that the Rus' lack skill in cavalry warfare.

Among the casualties are the Emperor's relative, Ioannes Kourkouas (whose severed head is displayed by the Rus from one of the towers) and the second-in-command in Sviatoslav's army, a certain Ikmor (who is killed by Anemas, a son of the Cretan emir, in revenge for Ikmor's assassination of his father during the Empire’s siege of Crete).

The Rus' and their Bulgarian allies are reduced to extremities by famine.

In order to appease their gods, they drown chickens in the Danube, but the sacrifices fail to improve their position.

As their hardships become intense, two thousand Rus' warriors (including some women) sally out at night, defeat an imperial force and go in search of supplies to the Danube; they later rejoin the besieged.

The Rus' feel they cannot break the siege and after sixty days agree to sign a peace treaty with the Empire, whereby they renounce their interests towards the Bulgarian lands and the city of Chersonesos in Crimea.

Svyatoslav bitterly remarks that all his allies (Magyars, Pechenegs) had betrayed him during this decisive moment.

He is allowed to evacuate his army to Berezan Island, while the Greeks enter Dorostolon and rename it Theodoropolis, after the reigning empress Theodora.