A Brief History of Ukraine

 From "A History Of Civilization" pg. 321

-Swedes penetrated the wilds of what is now Russia.

-Swedes established the first settled culture in Russia at Novgorod and Kiev; in fact, the Swedish invaders were known as "Russ."

                                                         pg.550

The Slav colossus, Russia, was already emerging, but early civilized life in Russia had been organized not by Slavs, but by Scandinavians. The Swedish Vikings had established small states in Novgorod and Kiev about the Danish north men were unsettling the painfully reconstructed civilization of western Europe. Russian lif was further enriched from Constantinople, first though penetration of Byzantine Christianity, and then by the introduction of Byzantine influence in art, literature, and terms of government. Indeed, later Tsars claimed Moscow as the capital of eastern Christendom, and asserted their independence of the mantle of Roman and Byzantine Caesars.

In the 13th century, Russia, then but a loose collection of feudal states, was conquered by Tartars, led by the grandson of Genghis Khan. For 200 years the Tartars maintained their sway, still collecting tribute from Russians when the Turks captured Constantinople. But Russian independence was not far off. In 1552, The Duke of Moscow defeated the Mongols, and became the leader of a Russian state. So rose the power which, in later years, would become the chief enemy of the Turks. The Turkish thrust northward conquered a part of what is now southern Russia. That territory was not Russian, but the possession of another Slovik power.

History Of Mankind- Vol.II pg. 24,26

....many specific Greco- native cultures can be distinguished: in Magna Graesia, Sicily, the country around Marsellies, the Propontis, Ukraine, Crimea, Cyrenaica, and so on.

....No less important was the influence of the Greek colonists on the Black Sea coasts, especially in the modern Ukraine.

Encyclopedia Britannica- History

  Beginning in the 7th-6th centuries BCE, numerous Greek colonies were founded on the northern coast of the Black Sea, on the Crimean Peninsula, and along the Sea of Azov. During the 1st millennium BCE, the steppe hinterland was successively occupied by the Cimmerians, Scythians, and Sarmatians. These peoples, all of Iranian (Persian) stock, maintained commercial and cultural relations with the Greek colonies.

  The Goths from the Baltic region replaced the Sarmatians in the Ukraine about 200CE.

Kyivan (KIEVAN) Rus

  The formation of the Kyivan state began in the 9th century by the Varagians (Vikings), and the name Rus was the beginnings of the state. From the Varangian merchant-warriors came the progenitors of the Kyivan princes, who soon became Slavicized. The Varangians were also called Rus, and this became a territorial designation for the Kyivan region. Later, it was applied to the entire territory ruled by members of the Kyivan dynasty.