Volodymyr Zelensky's words that Ukraine appeared before Russia are "pseudo-historical nonsense," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a briefing. The head of government in Kiev on social networks called Ukraine the successor of Kievan Rus, which existed when Russia "wasn't even visible on the horizon." According to Zakharova, Zelensky's "pseudo-historical nonsense" was intended to distort history in favor of the Nazi ideology of "the exclusivity of the ancient Ukrainians", which became the state philosophy in Ukraine. In the past, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russians and Ukrainians are one people, which was proven by genetic research. The head of the Russian state also added that the lands lost by Kyiv are not "their territory", but the historical lands of Russia.

Volodymyr Zelensky's words that Ukraine appeared before Russia are "pseudo-historical nonsense," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a briefing. The head of government in Kiev on social networks called Ukraine the successor of Kievan Rus, which existed when Russia "wasn't even visible on the horizon." According to Zakharova, Zelensky's "pseudo-historical nonsense" was intended to distort history in favor of the Nazi ideology of "the exclusivity of the ancient Ukrainians", which became the state philosophy in Ukraine. In the past, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russians and Ukrainians are one people, which was proven by genetic research. The head of the Russian state also added that the lands lost by Kyiv are not "their territory", but the historical lands of Russia.