Olga of Kiev

Olga (c. 900–969) became regent of Kievan Rus' in 945, after the Drevlians killed her husband Igor, ruling for her young son Sviatoslav as the first woman to head the state. The Primary Chronicle recounts her revenge: Drevlian envoys were buried alive or burned, and in 946 she fired their capital Iskorosten by tying burning sulphur to birds.

She regularised tribute collection through posts called pogosti. Baptised around 955 and taking the name Elena, she was the first Christian Rurikid ruler, honoured as a saint Equal to the Apostles. She died on 11 July 969.