2/1/2022–|Last update: 1/2/202201:59 PM (Mecca)
In the 11th century, a prince named Yaroslav the Wise united the principalities between the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea, codified the laws and formed the first political state of the Eastern Slavs, and now Russia and Ukraine are vying for him as the founding father, and today Ukraine is working in full swing to find his remains that no one knows where is he now.
In a report in the American Wall Street Journal, Brett Forest says that Ukraine’s finding of the remains will represent an important symbolic victory, strengthening Kiev’s sovereign position at a time when it is experiencing tension with its large neighbor.
The writer pointed out that Yaroslav’s legacy is in dispute between the two parties, as Moscow sees it as a historical basis for the current Russian military build-up near Ukraine, which US officials consider a possible prelude to a Russian invasion of that country.
Both Russia and Ukraine claim to be the political heirs of the Kievan Rus Federation.
Ukraine awards the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise to those who render a great service to the state, and Moscow named a Russian frigate that patrols the Baltic Sea after his name, and the image of Prince Yaroslav appears on a bank note in both countries, according to the writer.
The importance and symbolism of this prince for the Russians is what prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin in an article published in July 2021 to assert that Russia and Ukraine are “one historical and spiritual space,” and that Ukraine has no basis for existence as a sovereign state.
In his aforementioned article, Putin referred to the common linguistic roots of the two countries in the Middle Ages, to the common Orthodox Christian faith, and to the rule they underwent since the beginning of the ninth century AD from the Rurik dynasty, of which Yaroslav was one of its kings.
In Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned Yaroslav’s name in his independence speech as the Ukrainian government searches for the prince’s remains as a tangible symbol of its independent state.
Ukrainian officials searched German war archives and traveled to New York in their quest, and DHS agents joined the effort in search of a Russian Orthodox church in Brooklyn.
Emphasizing the importance of this issue for Ukrainians is the words of their Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, “As direct descendants of ancient Russia, we do not deny the right of Belarus and modern Russia to emphasize common historical ties. What we categorically oppose are the current Russian attempts to use the history of Kievan Rus’ as a tool to serve Putin’s modern myths.” and unlawful territorial claims.
The Ukrainians hope – according to the writer – that a comparison of the DNA of the remains of that prince will enable them to prove that they are descendants of known dynasties in France, Germany and Hungary instead of Russia, in the hope that this will lead to more European support for the independence of their country from Russia.
According to the author, Moscow has grown increasingly concerned in recent years that Ukraine is getting closer and closer to the West and away from Russian influence. The current Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has cracked down on pro-Russian politicians and media outlets, reducing the Kremlin’s influence in Ukraine’s domestic politics.
Zelensky also continues to press for the search for Yaroslav’s remains, and to communicate on the matter with Washington and Ukrainian communities in the United States and elsewhere.