THE PROBLEM OF THE ORIGIN OF THE KYIVAN-RUS STATE IN THE UKRAINIAN STUDIES OF VLODYMYR BARAN

The article analyzes the problem of the formation of the state Rus in the Ukrainian studies of Volodymyr Baran. The essence of the concepts of “Rus,” “Kyivan Rus,” “Ancient Rus,” “Ukraine-Rus,” “Kyivan State,” and “Rus State” is revealed. It is noted that in the modern scientific community, it is common to use the terms “Kyiv State,” “Ukraine-Rus,” and “Kyivan-Rus State” to designate the state formation that existed in Eastern Europe in the 9th-12th centuries. Theories of the origin of the Kyivan state are considered, it is shown that in addition to the two classical theories of the origin of the Kyivan-Rus state – Norman and anti-Norman – in modern scientific thought there is also the so-called convergent (converging and unifying) theory of the origin of the state of Rus. The importance of the Great Migration of Peoples (5th–7th centuries AD) as a milestone historical event that influenced the formation of the Kyivan state and the emergence of the Ukrainian people is demonstrated. The ethnocultural and ethnopolitical processes on the eve of the formation of the Kyivan Rus state are outlined. It is emphasized that states arise only when the population and its tribal elites are ready for their creation and have the appropriate social and economic level. The important role of the Polians, who were, first and foremost, a socio-political association of the Middle Dnieper Slavs, in the creation of the state of “Rus” is emphasized. It was their tribal elite that stood at the origins of Ukrainian statehood. It has been proven that all tribal groups of the right-bank Slavs (Duliby-Buzhany-Volhyniany, Derevliany, Poliany, Croats, Ulychi, and Tyvertsi) and the left-bank northerners were one ethnocultural and linguistic community, the roots of which date back to early mediaeval times. The role of the Varangian-Rus in the formation and establishment of the Kyivan Rus state is shown. A reconstruction of the events preceding and during the formation of the Kyivan state has been carried out.