Russia before Russia
Paul Bushkovitch
Russian history begins with the polity that scholars have come to call Kiev Rus, ancestor of modern Russia. Rus was name inhabitants gave themselves and their land, its capital. In terms, it embraced all Belarus, northern half Ukraine, center northwest European The peoples these three states are Eastern Slavs, who speak closely related languages derived from East Slavic language Rus. west neighbors were roughly same as those today: Hungary, Poland, Baltic peoples, Finland. north stretched toward Arctic Ocean, farmers only beginning move into far north.
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