By Kostas Onisenko
The Ukrainian presidency issued a congratulatory message yesterday to President Volodymyr Zelensky on the occasion of the 1033rd anniversary of the baptism of the Rus in Ukraine, which was celebrated yesterday in Kyiv and other cities.
In his message, Zelensky states that the Rus of Kyiv, from where the spread of Christianity in Eastern Europe began 1033 years ago, is the predecessor of today’s Ukraine.
Analysts say the Ukrainian president’s remarks are an indirect response to a recent article by Vladimir Putin claiming, among other things, that Ukrainians and Russians are “the same people.”
“Kyiv’s Rus is the mother of our history. 24 regions of Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula – are her children. And they are rightfully its heirs. Some second cousins and distant relatives should not plot its inheritance. And to try to prove their involvement in the history of thousands of years and thousands of events, thousands of kilometers away from the places where they happened,” Zelenski said in his message.
“Today we celebrate the day of the Baptism of the Rus in Kyiv-Ukraine. It is the official and especially the historically fair name of the holiday, which emphasizes the indivisibility of the two states.
Between the Rus of Kyiv and Ukraine in the text of the relevant decision of the President of Ukraine, there is a hyphen (-) and this is not just a divisive symbol, it is a symbol that means that Ukraine is the successor of one of the most powerful states of medieval Europe.
In its capital, the capital of modern-day Ukraine, the history of Christianity in Eastern Europe began when, 1033 years ago, the great Prince of Kyiv, Vladimir, baptized the Rus of Kyiv. “The Rus of Kyiv – Ukraine,” said the Ukrainian President.
It is indicative that lately the media and Russian officials have been calling the state of “Rus of Kyiv” “Ancient Rus”, that is, trying to liberate this state with the current capital of Ukraine. These statements by Zelensky provoked a wave of reactions and belligerent statements in the Russian media.