The commander of the Dardanelles straits at Abydos tried to block their path, but they defeated him and sailed through the straits to the Aegean Sea. They then made for the island of Lemnos, where they were confronted by a much stronger Byzantine fleet, comprising the forces of the strategos of Samos David of Ohrid, the fleet of the Cibyrrhaeot Theme, and the troops of the doux of Thessalonica, Nikephoros Kabasilas. The Byzantine commanders initially pretended that they wanted to negotiate, so that the Rus' were lulled into false security.