The "Ladomir" publishing house published the encyclopedia "Ancient Rus' in the Medieval World", which had been preparing for publication for more than twenty years. Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian historians took part in its compilation.
The encyclopedia covers the period from the birth of the Old Russian state to the Mongol invasion of the middle of the 13th century and covers all aspects of the life of that time - economic, cultural, religious and socio-political.
To what extent have current events affected fundamental research historians, Radio Liberty was told by the head of the center "Eastern Europe in the ancient and medieval world" of the Institute world history RAS Elena Melnikova, Director of the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Chubaryan and Director of the Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Petr Tolochko.
Petr Tolochko, Director of the Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine:
- Obviously, nothing fundamental has happened, but in the nuances, in the details, something has changed. Some new source is opened, good archaeological excavations, for example, in Novgorod they found a wax book of the late 10th - early 11th century. Of course, studies make certain adjustments, but in general, fundamentally, I think that there have been no fundamental changes.
It is very important that in this encyclopedia Ancient Rus' is comprehended as a single political, historical and cultural organism, from its origin to the defeat by the Mongol-Tatars. Because for a long time our historiography was tormented by eternal question: When did Rus' break up? So people wanted it to break up, but it didn’t break up in any way!
Of course, the state is not a frozen form, structure, it has changed over the centuries, but its reliable bonds were a single princely dynasty of Rurik, it united all the lands. And when the Monomakhovichi said to the Olgovichi: "Why do you want to take Kyiv? Kyiv is our city, not yours!" - then the Olgovichi answered them with a wonderful phrase: "We are not Ugrians and not Poles, but we have one grandfather, and as far as Kiev is for you, so much for us to Kiev."
"We are not Ugrians and not Poles, but we have one grandfather, and as far as Kyiv is for you, so much for us to Kyiv"
There was a common identity Old Russian people, and there was a common, unified state. Nevertheless, we, Ukrainians, today revived the old point of view that the Ukrainians created Ancient Rus, and Russian historians began to frantically search for the first capitals of Russia in the north, in Staraya Ladoga and the Rurik settlement. The Belarusians, in turn, said that "the Belarusian state began with the Principality of Polotsk." I am absolutely convinced that such a view of the past is not an establishment of objective truth, but an interpolation of our present existence into the past. We all want each nation to have its own historical umbilical cord.
Elena Melnikova, Head of the Center "Eastern Europe in the Ancient and Medieval World" of the Institute of General History of the Russian Academy of Sciences:
- The creation of this encyclopedia was initiated by the Ladomir publishing house, which paid for the author's work in the difficult first half of the 1990s. Then the funding stopped, and only in 2012, when we received a large targeted grant from the Russian Humanitarian Science Foundation, only then were we able to return to this project, add new articles, and update the old ones. In addition, the encyclopedia is richly illustrated, and the selection of illustrations is a very difficult thing. The book has a large number of factual material, and some materials have never been published at all. Let's say, lists of princes by city, with the dates when they ruled there.
And this encyclopedia is maximally deideologized and depoliticized. Moreover, in those cases when there are big discussions on some issue, say, Russkaya Pravda - when it was written, what reflects, and so on, we gave a presentation of the main points of view and asked the author to minimally join one or another. That is, he could join a certain one, but he was obliged to present other points of view.
Alexander Chubaryan, Director of the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences:
- Over time, of course, there is a change of paradigms and a change of apparatus, but this is a normal development of science. I don't see any difficulties, any political and ideological context here. As for the ancient period, I can state with pleasure that the interest in it is very great, and if we talk about Russia, then the main attention is directed to the origins. Formation of the Russian national identity where our roots come from - today this is of interest to the general population.
Finding your roots in antiquity is important for realizing your belonging
Of course, this interest is growing in connection with the events in Ukraine, but not only with modern ones. We had a Russian-Ukrainian commission, I am in charge of it, and we discussed a lot about what Kievan Rus is, how states were formed. There is a point of view that this is the cradle from which the civilizations of three peoples have grown - Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian. But I must say that almost all peoples are trying to find their roots in antiquity, since this is important for realizing their belonging.
Note that the existence of the European Union did not realize the dream of the founding fathers of Europe that there would be one state, one history, one government ... No, there is cultural autonomy, there is a cultural memory that remains in the minds of the country, the people, they do not want to sacrifice it, nor the British , neither the French nor the Germans. Especially in Russia,” says Alexander Chubaryan, director of the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The thick, beautifully published and richly illustrated encyclopedia "Ancient Rus' in the Medieval World" is the first attempt to systematize scientific knowledge about the early period Russian history. In the near future, a unique edition will appear on the shelves bookstores, but then, probably, it will disappear, becoming a bibliographic rarity. Still, the circulation is only 2 thousand copies. Chief Researcher of the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor historical sciences Elena Melnikova told the "Historian" about the project itself, as well as about the place of Ancient Rus' in Medieval Europe. The question of calling the Varangians was not left without attention ...
Evangelist John with his disciple Prochorus. Mstislav Gospel. Before 1117
– How did the idea of creating such an encyclopedia come about?
- The history is very long. Back in the early 1990s Chief Editor publishing house "Ladomir" Yuri Mikhailov approached me with a proposal to create an encyclopedia on the history of ancient Rus'. In our youth, my colleague Vladimir Petrukhin and I agreed, which, as it turned out later, was extremely unreasonable on our part. (Laughs.) After all, then we had a poor idea of the amount of work awaiting us. If we knew what was to come, then, I think, we would delicately refuse.
– Was it only about the Old Russian period?
– The publishing house had very extensive, I would even say ambitious plans: they wanted to prepare encyclopedias on all periods of Russian history. Ancient Rus', then XIV, XVII century, XVIII century, XIX ... But there was no continuation, because already at that stage it turned out that work on the encyclopedia required colossal funding. You will remember the first half of the 1990s. Then our favorite joke was to the question: “How are you?” - to answer that, they say, they still don’t take money for entering the institute. By the mid-1990s, a dictionary was developed, a significant part of the articles were written, and their editing began. Then the project was frozen.
– When did you resume work?
“Until 2012, we had no money. In 2012, I received a large grant allocated as part of the program to celebrate the 1150th anniversary of the birth of Russian statehood by the Russian Humanitarian Science Foundation, to which I am extremely grateful. I used most of this grant specifically for work on the encyclopedia. And now the end of 2012, the whole of 2013 and almost the whole of 2014, I did nothing but this encyclopedia. All my other plans - everything had to be postponed, because, on the one hand, it was necessary to organize additional author's work (it was necessary to add those articles that had not yet been written, and update, and sometimes rewrite those that were created in the 1990s years, simply because during this time a lot of them have already become outdated), and on the other hand, edit the entire text, select illustrations, subtract all this, check it.
– What is the principle of building an encyclopedia? What is a vocabulary unit? And most importantly, what can be found in this dictionary?
- The encyclopedia is interdisciplinary, that is, here you can find almost everything related to Ancient Rus'. The principle of its construction is a real lexicon, a reference book of realities, not concepts, therefore it is non-politicized, it does not contain articles devoted to some concepts related to Ancient Russia. True, there is an article "The Old Russian State", but it sets out the state of research that exists in this moment.
On the whole, we gave preference to articles devoted to Old Russian terms. In addition, much attention was paid to personalities: all the princes and princesses, about whom we know anything other than the fact of birth or death, ended up on the pages of the encyclopedia. The same is true of church leaders: bishops and metropolitans.
Doctor of Historical Sciences Elena Melnikova: “We had a poor idea of the amount of work awaiting us”
It also contains articles about written monuments (we have all pre-Mongolian manuscripts, literary monuments), about monuments of architecture and art - almost all that have been preserved, those that are known to us. There are general articles. Let's say "Book miniature", "Bible books", etc.
- Are the articles on the princes purely factual or evaluative?
- Factual information only.
Over 170 leading scientists from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus took part in the creation of the encyclopedia
- These are the leading scientists involved in the history of Ancient Rus'. Unfortunately, some did not live to see the publication of the book - Yaroslav Nikolaevich Shchapov, Valentin Vasilyevich Sedov. A huge contribution to this collective work was made by the actively working Vladimir Andreevich Kuchkin: he himself wrote about a hundred articles and also edited the two largest basic blocks - about the princes and the historical geography of Ancient Rus'. In these areas, he is today the largest specialist.
- Did I understand correctly that you also attracted Ukrainian authors?
– Yes, both Ukrainian and Belarusian. We are talking about archaeological material on Southern Rus'; Naturally, only Ukrainian archaeologists could do such work: Vladimir Petrovich Kovalenko from Chernigov, the people of Kiev Petr Petrovich and Aleksey Petrovich Tolochko, Nikolai Fedorovich Kotlyar.
A special topic is the selection of illustrations. Many colleagues helped us in this. For example, Gleb Yuryevich Ivakin, deputy director of the Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, sent us beautiful illustrations, some of which had not been published before. These are, without exaggeration, the most valuable materials.
How many illustrations are in the encyclopedia?
- About a thousand.
What about dictionary entries?
- Three thousand. Among them there are those for which it is impossible to find illustrations. In particular, there are almost no authentic depictions of princes. The principle of illustration was general: only pre-Mongolian material and only in the rarest cases - later monuments (as, for example, with an article about Alexander Nevsky: we took his iconographic image of the 17th century - there are simply no early ones). Our encyclopedia also has something that is usually not found in encyclopedias - unique applications. The volume ends with a whole block reference materials. Here are genealogical tables, without which it is very difficult to understand the intricacies of the Rurik family ties, and lists of metropolitans, and lists of princes indicating the time and place of their reign - there has never been such a list before.
For the first time, lists of monasteries with the dates of their founding, cities by principalities, pre-Mongolian dated manuscripts, icons were created for the encyclopedia.
In this sense, our book largely generalizes and systematizes modern knowledge about Ancient Rus'. And of course, as always happens with such a large generalization, it provides an incentive for further research.
Birch letter. Novgorod. 1160s–1170s
Will there still be a sequel? Mongolian period, Muscovite Rus'…
I don't think there will be a sequel. This is such a hard and time-consuming work, which in a good way should be done by a team of not only authors, but also editors, proofreaders, etc.
Does the publisher have such plans?
“They would like to continue the project, but there is an understanding of how much effort it requires, how difficult it is. The publishing house tried to negotiate with various researchers, however, as I understand it, these negotiations have not yet brought any results.
- The encyclopedia is called "Ancient Rus' in the medieval world." What, in your opinion, did Rus' occupy in this world?
– It is obvious to me that Rus' was part of the European medieval world, part of Europe. The very formation of the Old Russian state, as a significant part of archaeologists and historians, including myself, believes, was connected with the geopolitical processes that took place in Europe. Not even in Eastern Europe, but in Europe as a whole - from the English Channel to the Volga. It was a single space, which was held together by a transcontinental route from the 8th century. And it was this system that became the impetus for the development of the Old Russian state: both participation in trade and the creation of the infrastructure of such a powerful trade route, along which colossal funds flowed, played their role. Imagine, about 100 thousand Arab coins were found in the treasures on the island of Gotland alone, which came through Eastern Europe from the East! And these are only those treasures that we know about. The flow of silver pouring into and through Eastern Europe was enormous. Such a movement of goods and money led to a radical change in the economies of the countries and lands through which this path passed, and after the economy, to their socio-political development. Therefore, both Ancient Rus' and Eastern Europe as a whole were initially inscribed in the European context. And with the growth of the Old Russian state, its strengthening, its political significance also increased.
- It is no accident that Yaroslav the Wise turned out to be a relative of almost all the major rulers of Europe ...
- He himself was married to a Swede, Irina-Ingigerd, one of his daughters married a Frankish king, the other a Norwegian one, his son married a Byzantine princess, and his sister was married to a Polish king. And dynastic ties for that time were politics. No love at first sight: the bride and groom did not see each other before the wedding. This is pure politics. In my opinion, nothing better characterizes the natural presence of Ancient Rus' within Europe, its, so to speak, "Europeanness" than these marriages of relatives of Yaroslav the Wise. But on Yaroslav, dynastic ties did not stop. Say, Vladimir Monomakh was married to an English princess: where is England and where is Rus'?! What distances! But even then it is a single world.
European rulers did not marry their sons to Khazar princesses in the 10th century, and in the 11th-12th centuries they did not marry Persians or Arab women. They were strangers, and Russians for Europeans were their own. And the influence of Europe was enormous. In particular, in architecture: we see echoes of Romanesque art both in Vladimir and Suzdal, not to mention the southwestern Russian lands.
Christ blesses the emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. Ivory. Around 945, the Pushkin Museum (detail)
Therefore, for me, the question of the incorporation of Rus' into Europe is simply not worth it. Ancient Rus' is a completely obvious, significant, essential part of the European world of that time.
- Tell me, if you suddenly happened to work on the next volume, would you also formulate its title
so - relatively speaking, "Rus' of the XIII-XV centuries in the medieval world" - or during this period some disunity already appears, the medieval world is divided into the world Western Europe and peace medieval Rus'?
– You know, I'm not an expert, so it's hard for me to talk about it, but I wouldn't call an encyclopedia dedicated to the 13th-15th centuries that way.
– Because a certain barrier is emerging in Europe?
- Yes, a certain alienation, detachment, which are gradually increasing.
– What is the reason for this? With the Great Schism - the split of the Christian world into Orthodox and Catholic - or with the Mongol invasion?
- I think with the invasion. Schism in the 11th-13th centuries had no such significance. Initially, it went unnoticed by everyone except the hierarchs. At the level of the Greek metropolitans who arrived in Ancient Rus', and the Catholic bishops - yes, schism was felt. But even such an enlightened and well-read ruler as Vladimir Monomakh, at the beginning of the 12th century, asked: what's the matter - what is this controversy about? The most educated man of his time, and for him this difference is completely incomprehensible. What can we say about ordinary parishioners! In the same XII century, for example, the "Varangian" church of St. Olaf functioned in Novgorod. And it is known about the prohibitions to carry "children to prayers to the Varangian priest." But the very presence of such prohibitions indicates that they were still worn, that during this period the Novgorodians did not care at all which church to carry the child to.
The same is true in the West. For example, in Scandinavia this very schism is not reflected at all. So in the 11th-12th centuries we are talking about a single Christian space.
– When does the situation change?
- From the crusades to the Baltic lands. To justify these campaigns against Rus', the division of churches began to stick out in every possible way and it was emphasized that Rus' is schismatics, heretics. That's when the idea of Russian schismatics appears in Europe, with whom it is necessary to fight. But this is not an idea coming from below, but an idea implanted by the then Catholic Church - the Pope of Rome. Over time, a backlash arose. And the Mongol invasion subsequently played a role ...
- What, in your opinion, is the dividing role of the Horde in relations between the Russian lands and Europe? What is the mechanism of this division?
- Firstly, the Mongol invasion made a strong impression on Europe. 1242 - Horde campaign in Hungary and Poland. This shocked the Europeans. And since these terrible conquerors (“Tatars”, as they were called both in Russian chronicles and in European chronicles, although they were just the Mongols) strengthened themselves in Rus', part of the negative passed on to Rus'. That is, it began to be perceived differently than it was perceived before, as something of its own. She became part of an alien, alien world, and not just confessionally, but also politically, culturally, mentally, if you like.
Idol. Black Grave (Chernihiv). Tue floor. 10th century
Secondly, Rus' weakened. Southern Rus' went to Poland and ceased to exist as independent state. What remains are small scattered principalities paying tribute to the Horde. Europe has lost a strong partner in the east. Previously, there was a powerful state, but here it is not clear who to deal with. The absence, in the eyes of Europe, of the subjectivity of the Russian lands led to even greater distance.
At some point, “Muscovy”, as the Europeans would call it, the Muscovite State arose. But it remained weak for a long time. Then ties gradually began to improve - both in the 15th century and in the 16th. However, the alienation, the removal persisted. Territory of Eastern Europe for the West became a stranger. Dropped out of context.
Well, then, Europe was intensively developing at this time: the Renaissance, new technical capabilities, the Great geographical discoveries America, India. Interests and attention were directed not to Rus'.
The encyclopedia covers the period from the birth of the Old Russian state to the Mongol invasion
– You are an expert on relations between Rus' and Scandinavia. Therefore, the question would be more than appropriate: how modern science evaluates the role of the Varangians in Russian history?
- How important. Very significant. But two things must be taken into account here.
Firstly, the already mentioned transcontinental route, on the eastern segment of which the Scandinavians operated, was of great importance for the emergence of the Old Russian state. This path, of course, played a stimulating role in the development of East Slavic societies. However, we are not talking about a state-forming role, as the "Normanists" interpreted it (now this term has lost all meaning from a purely scientific point of view). Nor did the Scandinavians themselves have any state in the 9th century.
Secondly, not only the northern - Baltic-Volga - trade route played an important role, but also other trade routes. And therefore, the origin of the Old Russian state, which is now recognized by almost all researchers, was not monocentric, but polycentric. That is, centers of statehood arose in different places of the East Slavic world. In addition to the Volkhov-Ilmen region (where Veliky Novgorod later appeared), and in the lands of the northerners, and in the territory where the glade lived, and in the Drevlyansk land, and, possibly, in Polotsk. We, unfortunately, have little data on this subject, there is no written evidence at all. But, judging by the archaeological data, a certain social hierarchy has already been traced in these regions, and according to a number of other signs, one can say that some kind of political structure was also being formed there. That is, early polities already arose among the East Slavic groupings, even without any Vikings. They can be called chiefdoms. Another question is that they did not develop into states, but became part of a single Rus'.
There is no doubt that the Scandinavians played a huge role in the Volkhov region and in the Ilmensky region - in the north. And, say, in the lands of the northerners, apparently, they simply did not exist. In Southern Rus', in the territory south of Smolensk, archeology does not find Scandinavian antiquities until the beginning of the 10th century. Perhaps the Scandinavians passed along the Dnieper route, but we even find silver treasures of the 9th century on the Don. Not on the Dnieper, which means that the main route to the north is the Don.
So, in one of the polities they played a very significant role. In others, none. It is another matter that it was precisely the polity where the Scandinavian elements were present that became significantly stronger and there formed (we can judge this, including from the Arab sources of the late 9th century), a kind of pre-state structure, from which impulses began to emanate to the south. There was a capture of Kyiv, under his rule, the northern and southern political structures gradually united. As a result, the Old Russian state was born.
992 pages, 3 thousand articles, over 1 thousand color illustrations. Encyclopedia weight - 3.5 kg
What role did the Scandinavians play in it?
- The Scandinavians, who came from the north, formed a new military elite. The old, tribal elite was mostly destroyed or blended in, integrated into the new elite. But the Scandinavians themselves gradually assimilated, little by little they were drawn into Slavic society. At this time, in the first half of the 10th century, a multi-ethnic squad culture arose. It mixed, by the way, not only Slavic and Scandinavian, but also Turkic, nomadic elements: Hungarian, Khazar, Bulgarian, etc. Meanwhile, this multi-ethnic retinue culture marked social status - not ethnicity.
The ethnic composition was blurred. And quite quickly - over several decades. Simply because the elite was numerically small, and it is necessary to communicate with the mass of the population, at least in order to collect tribute. So, it was necessary to agree.
- What do we know about the figure of Rurik?
- The fact that Rurik is a figure hidden in the fog of legends.
- Is that all?
– First, a few preliminary remarks. First, we must remember that everything we read in the annals about events up to the beginning of the 11th century is written legends, this is an oral tradition. Chronicle writing as such, that is, the compilation of records of ongoing events by year, began either in the first decade of the 11th century, or, as is now assumed, at the very end of the 10th century. And before that, there was only an oral tradition, and of different depths - with a longer “tail” (for example, legends about Avars or the Danubian ancestral home) and with a shorter “tail”. And even if we proceed from the fact that chronicle writing began at the end of the 10th century, all the same, what is reported about the 60-70s of the 9th century are stories written down in hindsight. What are oral stories? This is the selection of material, its comprehension in a certain form, forgetting details and replacing real details with those ideas about the past that exist at the moment, these are stereotypes, traditional plots and motives wandering from one story to another, etc.
Secondly, the chronicler did not write about events in general. He wrote his own history. He built it in a certain way according to his available (in this case, Byzantine) patterns. In other words, he had a certain idea, Byzantine patterns of chronicle writing and oral tradition.
- And from this material he "made history" ...
- You can say so, the chronicler transposed oral stories into the language of scholarly historical writing. Please note that he did not give a transcript of the legend in the form in which it reached him. He processed them. As a result, today we cannot say exactly when those fragments of information that the chronicle brought to us appeared, in the process of developing the oral tradition or as a result of the chronicler's work.
- So after all, returning to Rurik ...
– Rurik, of course, is a figure from the oral tradition. As far as I can tell from the fragments of data that have come down to us, he was one of the many Scandinavian leaders who participated in trade transit and established control over part of this great transcontinental route. We do not know how the power was changed, but I think that one incoming detachment kicked out another or, on the contrary, was defeated and left. The leader of the detachment was Rurik, who managed to settle in the Volkhov-Ilmen region. That, perhaps, is all that can be said about him for sure.
Barmy. XII-XIII centuries
- And the legend about the calling of the Varangians?
- It also, of course, belongs to the oral tradition and has come down to our days because, on the one hand, it contains a story about how everything was in the beginning (and beginnings are always very important for historical memory), and on the other hand, the most important element in this legend is the mention of the agreement between Rurik and the local nobility (“come and own us”). Similar agreements with the settled Vikings were concluded everywhere: in England, by the way, even the text of such an agreement dated 878 has been preserved.
Apparently, there was an agreement with Rurik. Its text has been lost, but the very fact of its conclusion was extremely important for both the Scandinavian and the local side. For the Scandinavians, because he asserted the power of Rurik and his heirs. For the local nobility, because the invited prince took upon himself the obligation to observe local customs. So both sides were vitally interested in the preservation of this tradition.
Is that why it was recorded?
– It was probably important for the chronicler who wrote down this legend to legitimize the power of the princes who lived in his time. And the end of the 10th - the beginning of the 11th century, when the chronicle was created, is exactly the period when the legitimization of power was required. Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich, while still a pagan, dealt with the last local rulers: with Prince Rogvolod in Polotsk, probably with some others. And, apparently, it was important for him to explain to those around him (and to his descendants too!), That he was acting legally.
Saints Panteleimon and Catherine (detail). Panteleimon Gospel. 12th century
It is here that the legend of Rurik acquires the liveliest political relevance - and the chronicler presents it as if on a silver platter. Here is the rightful ruler - Rurik, here is his legitimate son - Igor, and all the rest went from Igor, including Vladimir. So, he, Vladimir, is the most legitimate and legitimate prince, there can be no other, and everything he does is legal.
The mechanism for the appearance of the legend about the calling of the Varangians, most likely, was as follows. And whether Rurik himself was in reality or not, it is useless to argue. Apparently, some Rurik was. The name is, of course, Scandinavian, common. And, in my opinion, so widespread that it makes absolutely no sense to identify him with any particular person.
Interviewed by Vladimir Rudakov
August 2nd, 2016 admin
A presentation of the fundamental work "Ancient Rus' in the Medieval World", published by the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, took place in Moscow.
The volume contains about three thousand scientific articles, with magnificent illustrations, maps and tables. In fact, this is the first encyclopedia in Russian and world historiography on all aspects of life. Kievan Rus- in a global context. The authors of the fundamental work "Ancient Rus' in the medieval world"
170 leading historians, philologists, archaeologists of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus became.
Science does not stand still: new sources are discovered, archaeological excavations yield previously unknown artifacts. It is not necessary to dispute the unconditional fact that for all three East Slavic peoples, Ancient Rus' with its capital in Kyiv was the single state, national cradle and Orthodox baptismal font. IN878 Prince Igor of Novgorod went down the Dnieper and made Kyiv capital ancient Russian state.
It is very important that in the published encyclopedia, Ancient Rus' is comprehended as a single cultural, political and economic organism - from its inception to the defeat by the Mongol-Tatars. The Rurik dynasty cemented the Old Russian state formation. When the Monomakhoviches asked the Olgovichi in the 12th century: “why do you want to take Kyiv, because this is our city” , Olgovichi answered them with a wonderful phrase: "We are not Ugrians, not Poles, but grandchildren of the same grandfather: during your lifetime, we are not looking for Kyiv, after you, to whom God will give."
Ancient Rus' is long gone, but this the formula "we are the same grandfather's grandchildren" vital today for all of us, separated by borders Russian Federation, Ukraine and Belarus. In the book "Old Russian people" analyzed numerous facts that lead us to an unambiguous conclusion: throughout the entire existence of Kievan Rus - from the 9th to the middle of the 13th century, a single nationality with common customs and mentality was formed.
All the authors of the Old Russian chronicles, in whatever part of a single country they were created, think not in terms of "their" principalities: Kyiv, Vladimir or Polotsk, but common ethnonym "Rus". Grand Duke Vladimir Svyatoslavich, baptized with Orthodox baptism a single Old Russian state with a center in Kyiv.
Rurik dynasty
Any attempt to artificially inflate and oppose certain local features of the Old Russian community offends our ancestors and therefore strikes at the moral health of us today.
Historians, first of all, should not sin. They should worship only the fact and the truth of history, whether their contemporaries like it or not. Endlessly changing history to please tsars or hetmans is a road to nowhere.
The life of peoples is long, and the hawks that rule the political arena today cannot stay there forever. Ukraine has already been in Europe for 300 years it was part of the Polish-Lithuanian state. From those "brotherly" European embraces, Ukraine managed to free itself with difficulty thanks to Hetman Bogdan Khmelnitsky. If Europe is going to hug Ukraine just as tightly now, then sooner or later similar processes will take place...
For Ukraine, there is a Fatherland that is larger than today's Ukraine - it is Ancient Rus' - a single Old Russian state of the Slavs. IN Old Russian state there were no Ukrainians with a center in Kyiv! Today's Ukrainian madness will someday end. It is time for modern Ukrainians to remember that in the medieval Old Russian state, all their ancestors were Russian. For the sake of our ancestors and descendants, we must preserve the memory of our common ancient history, about common cultural and spiritual origins.
Based on the article: Academician Petr Tolochko: “ There were no Ukrainians in Kievan Rus' — http://portal-kultura.ru
Lead Representative scientific direction"DNA Genealogy", Doctor of Chemistry, Professor of Moscow State University and Harvard University Professor Anatoly Klyosov believes that Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians are a collection of the same genera. From a genetic point of view, they are one and the same people. Ethnic Russians have three main genera according to DNA genealogy: R1a, I and N.
To the haplogroup R1a 48% are Russians and 45% Ukrainians, 52% are Belarusians. TO haplogroup I 22% are Russians and 24% Ukrainians, 22-24% are Belarusians. to the north haplogroup N 14% are Russians, 10% Belarusians, and in Ukraine up to 4%.
Statements about the differences between our peoples are part of the information war
Professor Anatoly Klyosov claims that there are no differences in the DNA of Russian and Ukrainian! By blood, we are one people, but you can’t argue with a blood test!
