Putin made a fool of himself talking history that he has no clue. Ukraine was a country and Kyev was the capital of a thriving nation long before Russia became a country under Ivan the Terrible in 1535. Russians copied the Rus from Swedes and Tsar from Cesar but civilisation came a century later during Peter the Great.
I heard him say Russia will never invade Baltics and Poland unless Poland invade them. He said the same just two days prior to invading Ukraine.
