Putin understood how he was being cutout of the game and went in. You guys aren’t gonna take what’s been ours for 1000 years!
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1,000 years ago, where Moscow is today, it was all swamp and scrub forest. There was a smallish enclave nearby called Moscovia, run by thieves and brigands.
Uh, it was around the year 880 when Oleg of Novgorod, a Varangian brigand, captured Kiev, which is generally considered the beginning of the Kievan Rus, i.e. the beginning of Russia.
"1,000 years ago" there was no United States of America, no Germany nor Italy, as they were divided into competing principalities, and much more. "1,000 years ago" when used to argue a point is fascinating, as one extends the premise.
No printing press, of course, nor means of speedy communication over distance, Cyrillic script was in its infancy, and so much less than our modern "eyes" think is there. Luther's 95 Theses would have awaited being written, and so no schism in Europe with Rome. So many "1,000 years ago" topics about which one could write and write and write.
Most interestingly, Vladimir's trident, "the emblem of en:Kievan Rus (10th-11th centuries) used on seals and coins" is almost identical to today's Coat of arms of Ukraine, the National emblem of Ukraine which was formally adopted in 1992. Historical oddities can be so interesting.