From Kievan Rus to the Mongol Yoke

Kievan Rus was an East Slavic state traditionally founded by the Varangians, Scandinavian merchant-warriors who controlled the river trade routes linking the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. According to the Russian Primary Chronicle, the Varangian leader Rurik founded the Rurikid dynasty at Novgorod around the year 862, and his successor, Oleg of Novgorod, moved the center of power to Kiev around 882, founding Kievan Rus proper and turning the city into a major commercial hub along the trade route "from the Varangians to the Greeks."