What came first Ukraine or Russia
I've been told conflicting things by different people. My mother always told me that Ukraine was around first and Russia sort of expanded from that, Russian culture and language came from Ukraine, but I've had other people on reddit tell me the opposite. Is there an easy answer to this?
Russian civilization dates back to the 10th century. It set roots in Ukraine and surrounding areas. The first Russian empire was established in Kiev, capital of Ukraine, and was known as Kievan Rus. It was ruled by the Rurik dynasty whose founders originated in Scandinavia. While the name of the kingdom was Rus (the old Slavic name for Russia), its flag resembles the flag of modern day Ukraine. The language spoken in Kievan Rus was old Slavic, which is the parent language of both Russian and Ukrainian.
Therefore, Russia and Ukraine came around the same time.