The history of what we now think of as Russia started in Kyiv more than 1,000 years ago when Viking warrior-merchants came down from the north and founded Kyivan Rus, the first East Slavic state ...

They ascended the throne at the end of one of the most critical periods of Russian history, known as the Time of Troubles (1589 Ü 1613). The last tsar of the previous dynasty, a weak son of Ivan ...