Vladimir the Great (980–1015) introduced Christianity with his own baptism and, by decree, extended it to all inhabitants of Kiev and beyond. Sviatoslav I (943–972) achieved the first major expansion of Kievan Rus' territorial control, fighting a war of conquest against the Khazars. He extended his control from Novgorod south along the Dnieper river valley to protect trade from Khazar incursions from the east, and moved his capital to the more strategic Kiev. Īccording to the Primary Chronicle, the first ruler to start uniting East Slavic lands into what would become Kievan Rus' was Prince Oleg (879–912). At its greatest extent in the mid-11th century, Kievan Rus' stretched from the White Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south and from the headwaters of the Vistula in the west to the Taman Peninsula in the east, uniting the East Slavic tribes. The modern nations of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine all claim Kievan Rus' as their cultural ancestor, with Belarus and Russia deriving their names from it. Encompassing a variety of polities and peoples, including East Slavic, Norse, and Finnic, it was ruled by the Rurik dynasty, founded by the Varangian prince Rurik. 'Rus' land' Old Norse: Garðaríki) was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century. Kievan Rus', sometimes Kyivan Rus', ( Old East Slavic: Роусь, romanized: Rusĭ, or роусьскаѧ землѧ, romanized: rusĭskaę zemlę, lit.

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