Found it very well put 👇 By Volodymyr Kukharenko: “Many people still confuse medieval Rus’ (Ruthenia) and modern russia, but they are not the same, neither historically, politically, nor culturally. Rus’ (also known as Kyivan Rus' or Ruthenia) was the name of the ancient state founded in Kyiv in the 9th century by a Scandinavian dynasty of Rurikids (Igor and Olga (Ingvarr and Helga in Old Norse) were the founding couple). It was one of the most developed European powers of its time, a Christianized, literate, and trade-rich civilization that connected Byzantium with Northern Europe. In 1100, Kyiv was 4th largest city in Europe, times bigger than Paris or London. Moscow, on the other hand, didn’t even exist until 1147, more than two centuries after Kyiv was already a flourishing capital. Its founder, Yuri Dolgorukiy, was a descendant of Kyivan rulers, and his grave is in Kyiv, not Moscow. You can literally visit it today. So Moskow was late colony of Rus', and that was the place where Kyiv royalty sent their least important members to rule, as it was kinda wild place by the standards of their time. For hundreds of years, the territory around Moscow was known as Moskovia (Muscovy). It had a very different history and political trajectory. After being taken by Mongols in 1237, Muscovy was a vassal of the Golden Horde and later of the Crimean Khanate for over 450 years, paying tribute and adopting much of the political culture, administrative style, and even vocabulary from its steppe overlords. Only in the early 1700s, during the reign of Peter I, did Muscovy rename itself the “Russian Empire”, deliberately appropriating the name Rus’ and its history to create the illusion of continuity. This was a political rebranding, not a historical fact. So there is no direct political ancestry of modern Russia from Kyivan Rus’. Moskow was a colony of Rus controlled for just 90 years, then they were under a different rule for over 4 centuries. If anything, its governance, autocracy, and imperial expansion are closer to the legacy of the Golden Horde than to the democratic traditions and European orientation of ancient Rus’. The truth is simple but important: 👉 Kyiv, not Moscow, is the cradle of Eastern Slavic civilization. 👉 Ukraine, not russia, is the rightful heir of Rus’. And stealing that heritage is one of the reasons of this war. That's why putin talks about his version of history so much. Our very existence debunks his narratives.”