Six Layers of Russia

The Rolling Stones - Sympathy For The Devil (Official Video) [4K]
ABKCOVEVO

My knowledge of Russian history is pretty abysmal. I know that in the 20th century:

• the commies (or the devil) killed the Tsar and his ministers.
• there was a civil war between the reds and the whites and maybe a couple of other factions. 
• Stalin was an s.o.b. who murdered several zillion of his own people.
• several million people died in WW2.
• in spite of these setbacks, the USSR became a super power rivaling the USA for world domination.
• the USSR collapsed as a system of government back around 1990.
• Vladimir Putin runs the show now.

Before that, not much. There was Peter the Great back around 1700. Everything I know about him I got from Neal Stephenson's The System of the World.

Vikings and fellow travelers depart Novgorod with their boat carried on a sled

A couple of days ago I asked a question about the TV series Vikings: Valhalla, and Boris Ivanov on quora tells me about the Russian Primary Chronicle, ". . . an Old East Slavic chronicle of Kievan Rus' from about 850 to 1110 . . ." (Wikipedia).

The Primary Chronicle

Today Yesterday Bayou Renaissance Man gave us a quote from an article on Richochet by  Martti J. Kari, former intelligence Colonel in the Finnish Defence Forces. Peter's excerpt gives us a broad overview.