№ 1635. The 1150th anniversary of Russian statehood

The second half of the 9th century saw the beginning of the Northern and Southern Russia unification process, which culminated in the emergence of the Old Russian state. According to an oral tale titled “The Legend of the Summoning of the Varangians” from the “Tale of Bygone Years” we can start the count of the Russian state with year of 862, when the legendary Varangian Rurik was summoned to the ancient Novgorod for ensuring the cessation of civil strife. His brothers an the Varangian militia came along with him.