Thread by @noclador

putin wants to conquer Kyiv, because the "Rus" in russia has actually nothing to do with russia.

A 🧵 about Kyiv:

In 1547 Ivan the Terrible declared himself "Tsar and Grand Duke of all Rus'", stealing his title from the fallen Byzantine Empire (tsar/czar = caesar) and

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"of all Rus'" from the medieval Kievan Rus' empire.

The Kievan Rus', founded in 882 by Vikings travelling down the rivers of Eastern Europe, was the largest state in medieval Europe until its decline in the 12th century.

Look at the map: moscow didn't even exist back then

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In the 11th century Kyiv and Constantinople were the leading capitals in Europe. With a population of 100,000 Kyiv was the 4th largest city on the continent.

In 1011 Byzantine architects began the construction of the Rus' main Cathedral: Saint Sophia of Kyiv

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Kyiv was such a center of power, study, and trade in the 11th century that the four daughters of Yaroslav the Wise (978–1054) married:

• Elisiv the King of Norway
• Anastasia the King of Hungary
• Anne the King of France
• Agatha the King of England

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while Yaroslav's heir Iziaslav married the King of Poland's daughter.

Kyiv was the leading city in the East until the Mongols razed it and killed 95% of its population in 1240.

100 years later moscow began to expand its borders and grow from small village to Grand Duchy.

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When Ivan the Terrible appropriated "tsar" and "of all Rus'" in 1547 he not only stole the ruler's title and name of two fallen empires, he also claimed the two empire's history and lands for moscow.

All tsars after Ivan used these claims to expaned their lands, claiming

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all lands where Slavic people lived as theirs. The tsars of muscovy even fought twelve wars against the Ottoman Empire to reclaim the lands of the Byzantine Empire.

Even in World War I one of the tsar's main goals was the annexation of Constantinople and the Dardanelles.

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russian nationalists still claim all these lands for russia.
putin is such a nationalist.

He and his ilk want to dominate all that once was Rus' (or russia or USSR) land. In their racist view the people in these lands long for and need russian rule, and if they don't then

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russia has the right to exterminate them.

If this reminds you of Hitler's Untermenschen theory - yes, it is the same racist, murderous ideology - just expressed with different words.

putin wants Kyiv not for its people, not for its economy, not for its beauty.

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putin wants Kyiv because in russia's national-fascist ideology, russia is the successor of the Kievan Rus' and so Kyiv "belongs" to muscovy, as it was the seat of the first empire in Eastern Europe and the city where Eastern Slavs were christianized.

putin is so obsessed

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with taking back control of Kyiv and its history that in 2016 he ordered a 17.5m high statue of Kievan Rus' prince Volodymyr the Great (958-1015) to be erected next to the kremlin in moscow and unveiled it with a rabidly fascist speech on "russian people's unity day".

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putin, like the tsars before him, wants Kyiv for its history, which since 1547 (along with the name Rus') has been stolen by the "rus"sians to vindicate their rule, conquests, and genocides of Eastern European people.

No more. Kyiv must not fall.
muscovy MUST be defeated.

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