Page "Ukrainian language" Paragraph 17

During the Khazar period, the territory of Ukraine, settled at that time by Iranian ( post-Scythian ), Turkic ( post-Hunnic, proto-Bulgarian ), and Uralic ( proto-Hungarian ) tribes, was progressively Slavicized by several waves of migration from the Slavic north.

Finally, the Varangian ruler of Novgorod, called Oleg, seized Kiev ( Kyiv ) and established the political entity of Rus '.

Some theorists see an early Ukrainian stage in language development here ; others term this era Old East Slavic or Old Ruthenian / Rus ' ian.

Russian theorists tend to amalgamate Rus ' to the modern nation of Russia, and call this linguistic era Old Russian.

Some hold that linguistic unity over Rus ' was not present, but tribal diversity in language was.