During the reign of Yaroslav Vladimirovich, nicknamed the Wise (1019-1054), around 1024 a great rebellion of smerds broke out in the northeast, in the Suzdal land. The reason for it was a strong hunger. The peasants, following the calls of the Magi, who used the anti-feudal struggle in order to protect the pagan faith, began to beat the local nobility, which was hiding the stocks of grain. To suppress the uprising, Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich himself went to Suzdal. Many participants in the uprising were imprisoned or executed. However, the movement continued until 1026.
During the reign of Yaroslav, the strengthening and further expansion of the borders of the Old Russian state continued. In the Baltic States in 1030 the city of Yuryev (later Tartu) was built. In 1031 the Cherven cities of South-Western Russia were annexed. At the same time, the Kiev prince subdued the Chernigov and Tmutarakan lands (1036). In 1038-1040 - Russian troops made campaigns in the Lithuanian lands. In 1040, the Old Russian state subjugated southern Finland.
In 1036, the Pechenegs attacked Kiev, but, having suffered a strong defeat, they were forced to go beyond the Danube in the future. Instead, the southern Russian steppes were occupied first by the Oghuz Turks, and then by the Polovtsians, who, starting from the 60s of the 11th century, raided Russian lands and, capturing prisoners, sold them into slavery.
The signs of the feudal fragmentation of the state became more and more apparent. The Novgorod land gained a certain independence, the Polotsk-Minsk principality became isolated.