Ukraine has “provoked” Russia simply by existing. The destruction of the Ukrainian people has been Russia’s goal for centuries. Even the infamous interview between pro-russian propagandist Tucker Carlson and Vladimir Putin showed that Russia’s invasions of Ukraine in 2014 and 2022 had nothing to do with NATO. Instead, they stem from Putin’s obsession with the breakup of Kyivan Rus in the 12th century and the USSR in the 20th century. He cannot accept that Ukrainians are a distinct nation, so he seeks to erase Ukraine from existence. Putin claims that russia was founded in 862. However, at that time, Moscow was a swampy forest with no civilization, whereas Kyiv was a prosperous city. Kyiv was ruled by Askold and Dyr beginning in 860, even before the Rurikid dynasty took control in 882. By 1100, Kyiv had become the fourth-largest city in Europe (larger than Paris or London in those days), while Moscow was not founded until 1147. The founder of Moscow is even buried in Kyiv, and visitors can still see his grave today. The state was known as Rus. The Byzantine Emperor referred to it as “Rossia.” In the 13th century, the Pope called Danylo, the Ukrainian king, the “King of Rus,” while Alexander Nevsky was merely the “Duke of Suzdal.” Even in the 17th century, Ukrainian Hetman Bohdan Khmelnitskyi referred to himself as the “Hetman of Rus.” Moscow was originally a colony of Rus and was called “Zalissia” (meaning “the land beyond the forest”). Moscow established its first state only in 1157 and identified themselves as Suzdalese (from the city of Suzdal). Their first newspaper was titled “The News of the Moscovian State,” and coins from Peter I’s era were inscribed with “Moscovian ruble.” Ivan Fedorov, the first book printer of Moscovia, fled to Ukraine just two years after publishing his book and identified himself as Moscovian. However, in 1721, after conquering the lands of ancient Rus, Moscovia officially renamed itself to Russia and adopted the two-headed eagle from Byzantium. They then fabricated a story that Rus “migrated” to Moscow to escape the Golden Horde. Bottom line: As a political unit, Ukraine began in the 9th century as the Kingdom of Rus. Moscovia, on the other hand, began in 1157 as the Principality of Vladimir-Suzdal. Claiming that Russia began in Kyiv is as inaccurate as saying that Argentina began as the Kingdom of Castile in the 9th century or that the USA began as the Kingdom of Wessex in the 6th century.