“Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians are all descendants of Ancient Rus, which was the largest state in Europe,” Russian President Vladimir Putin wrote in an essay published in July 2021. The title is “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians.” Ancient Rus refers to the state of the Rus, centered at Kiev and formed around Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus before the eastern Europe was conquered by a Mongolian Khan. In short, Putin claims three countries — each a sovereign state now — are not unrelated in terms of their “root.”
