WKievan or Kyivan Rus' was a loose federation of East Slavic and Finno-Ugric peoples in Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century, under the reign of the Varangian Rurik dynasty. The modern nations of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine all claim Kievan Rus' as their cultural ancestors, with Belarus and Russia deriving their names from it. Russia was ruled by the Rurikid dynasty until the 16th century. At its greatest extent, in the mid-11th century, it stretched from the White Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south and from the headwaters of the Vistula in the west to the Taman Peninsula in the east, uniting the majority of East Slavic tribes.
WBilhorod Kyivskyi or Belgorod Kievsky was a legendary city-castle located in Kievan Rus' that was located on the right bank of Irpin River and was mentioned in chronicles.
WThe Black Grave is the largest burial mound (kurgan) in Chernihiv, Ukraine. It is part of the National Sanctuary of Ancient Chernihiv and is an Archaeological Monument of national importance.
WTustan was a Medieval cliff-side fortress-city and customs site of the 9th—16th centuries, an Old Rus cliff-side defensive complex. Its remains are located in the Ukrainian Carpathians, in the Skole district of the Lviv oblast, near the village of Urych, southwards from the town of Boryslav and to the southern-east from the village of Skhidnytsia. The unique monument of history, archeology, architecture, and nature is situated amidst the woods of Pidhorodtsi Forestry and is part of the Tustan Site Museum.
WThe Gardarike Runestones are runestones in Scandinavia that mention voyages to the East (Austr) or the Eastern route (Austrvegr), or to more specific eastern locations such as Garðaríki.
WThe rota system or the lestvitsa system, from the Old Church Slavonic word for "ladder" or "staircase", was a system of collateral succession practiced (though imperfectly) in Kievan Rus' and later Appanage and early Grand Duchy of Moscow, in which the throne passed not linearly from father to son, but laterally from brother to brother and then to the eldest son of the eldest brother who had held the throne. The system was rationalised by Yaroslav the Wise, who assigned each of his sons a principality based on seniority, though it predates his reign and was also used among the Norse of Great Britain and Ireland.
WRussia, or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country located in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east, and from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in the south. Russia covers over 17,125,200 square kilometres (6,612,100 sq mi), spanning more than one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area, stretching eleven time zones, and bordering 16 sovereign nations. Moscow is the country's capital and largest city; other major cities include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Chelyabinsk and Samara.
WTorchesk was a medieval town, located between today's villages of Olshanytsia and Sharky in Kiev Oblast (province) of central Ukraine near Kaharlyk.
WUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and north-east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west; and Romania, Moldova, and the Black Sea to the south. Ukraine also borders Crimea to its south, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, though Ukraine still continues to claim the territory. Including Crimea, Ukraine has an area of 603,628 km2 (233,062 sq mi), making it the second-largest country by area in Europe after Russia, and the 46th-largest country in the world. Excluding Crimea, Ukraine has a population of about 42 million, making it the eighth-most populous country in Europe, and the 34th-most populous country in the world. Its capital and largest city is Kyiv.