The Heritage of Kyivan Rus’
Who are the true heirs of Kyivan Rus’? The Russians claim the name with some credibility. Ukraine has always been “Russian” since the Swedish Rus’ invaded and populated the area from 500-700 CE, but they did not use the name of themselves.
They were the first Russian speakers, although they have always called their language Ukrainian.It was Ivan the Terrible/Formidable (depending on how you translate grozny) who proclaimed himself “Tsar of all Rus’” or the Tsar of Russia, in 1547. Until then, he had been merely the Grand Prince of Moscow. When Russian students read history now, they assume that Ivan was also Tsar of Ukrainian Rus’.
Ukrainian readers of the same history claim that just because a prince in Moscow said he was King of the Rus’ did not make him King of Ukrainian Rus’. Kyiv was not a part of Ivan’s empire. Russians had to painstakingly wrest control of Ukraine over the following centuries. Kyivan Rus’ still exists, and it is still occupied by those who speak a language forged on its soil. Rulers have come and gone, but Ukrainians are still where Ukrainians should be.
For a Muscovite Russian, that is irrelevant. Ukraine is a fringe Russian-cultured land that has a natural cultural connection to the great Russian Empire. Why are they making such a fuss about an issue that was decided by Ivan the Formidable?
That psychopath, who lost more than he gained, and killed his own son? the Ukrainians respond. Ukraine was never part of his brutal empire.