“From the first years of the existence of the Russian state - the power of the Varangian Rurik - the main concern of this prince, and then his heirs, was the armed defense of the East Slavic and some Finno-Ugric tribes united around Novgorod and Kyiv. In the fight against enemies - the Khazars, Pechenegs, Cumans, Yatvingians, Hungarians, Germans, Romans - the power of the fighting armies grew stronger, new fortress cities were built, but to replace the defeated opponents, new, even more dangerous enemies appeared at the borders of the Rurik Empire. The sword from the West and the saber from the East continued to threaten the Russian land for many centuries...”