I'm doing an oral presentation on the early russian states of Kiev and Moscow. Looking for primary sources to immerse my audience in the time period. Anything from the cities' foundation, to the rise of the Czars. Any suggestions would be great! thanks guys! P.S. Mongols always make presentations more interesting!
How much time do you have? The chronicle of Nestor is the, for most questions, the only source on everything about the Kiev Rus, but it was written in the beginning of the twelfth century; Thus it contains neither the destruction of Kiev Rus by the Mongols in 1241 nor does it mention Moscow (which was founded by Yuri Dolgoruki decades after the completion of the chronicle) so for everything that pertains to the Mongol, Lithuanian and Polish occupation of Russia, or it's second foundation as an independent state by Ivan IV. (the last grand duke of Muscowy and the first tsar of Russia) in 1547 you'll have to look into any of the modern day historians.
Here you can have a collection of excerpts from the Nestor chronicle about the arrival of the Rus Vikings, raids on the Byzantines, conversion to christendom and all the other fun stuff everybody wants to know first.
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Try to divide and conquer by defining eras of Rusian history. My personal favorite is three: Kievan Rus', starting with the unification of Novgorod and Kiev under Oleg and ending with the sack of Kiev by the Mongols. (882-1240) The Tatar Yoke (1241-1400something)with Alexander Nevsky being the hero of this era and solidifying the Eastern identity of Rus', and then Imperial Russia starting with the coronation of Ivan IV and I don't know when it ends I haven't taken the class. This subject makes for a frustrating but concise three page paper, keep that in mind when deciding what details to include in your presentation.