The many sieges of Kyiv and twists and turns of history
India Today
As Russia continues its aggression against Ukraine, we look at the many sieges of Kyiv and twists and turns of history. What course human history takes will be very interesting to see at the end of this war, if we all survive.
Be careful, king of kings. First you need the victory - Achilles
For the first time in several decades Europe is facing a full-scale conflict on its territories as many cities of Ukraine are currently under siege by the Russians with a few cities and ports fallen to the Russian troops. The capital Kyiv, which has withstood the assault so far, will fall sooner or later into Russian hands.
What will be interesting is how Russia holds on to territories captured in these populated centres. It is easy to capture cities but very difficult to hold on to them despite superior weaponry and technology. This article is, however, about the circumstances and the consequences when the people of this ancient city have withstood similar events in their history.
Russia and Belarus derive their names because they belong to a region known as Kievan Rus. In the 10th century Vladimir, the Great accepted Orthodox Christianity as the official state religion. He is believed to have sent envoys to all parts of the neighbouring world to study their religions to adopt a state religion.
An envoy sent to the Muslim Bulgaria reported that alcohol is prohibited in that religion to which Valdimir is reported to have said, "Drinking is the joy of all Rus. We cannot exist without that pleasure.”
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About Judaism, he is believed to have said that having lost Jerusalem, it is evident that the Jews have been abandoned by their god and thus he is believed to have chosen Christianity as the state religion. Ironically, today both the warring leaders have the same name as the grand prince of Kyiv.