Forensic facial reconstruction was made by famous Soviet archaeologist and anthropologist Mikhail Gerasimov. Among some 200 faces Gerasimov reconstructed are also the faces of emperor Timur (Tamerlane), Yaroslav the Wise, Ivan the Terrible, and Friedrich Schiller. Although different sources including Wikipedia state that “Andrey Bogolyubsky was born ca. 1111, to a daughter of Ayyub Khan, the Kipchak leader, and to Yuri I, commonly known as Yuri Dolgoruki,” there are serious doubts about it. One of the reasons is because Yuri Dolgoruki was born in 1099 which makes him only 13 years old at the time of his son’s birth. Looking at Bogolyubsky’s facial features it is hard to detect Slavic traits at all it seems.
As for Bogolyubsky’s ‘Sack of Kyiv in 1169’, it is more than likely never took place and is a fictitious event created by ‘history engineers’ in Moscow. The first reason why there was no attack on Kyiv in 1169 altogether is the fact that the very same year Bogolyubsky’s army attacked Novgorod and was completely annihilated which is recorded in the Chronicle of Novgorod.
The second reason is that in 1173, Bogolyubsky did try to attack Kyiv but was defeated near Vyshgorod. (Had he ‘destroyed Kyiv as never before’, there would not have been a need to attack it again within four years).
Why was it necessary for Russian historians to falsify the event? The answer is obvious – they needed to ‘relocate’ the capital of Rus closer to the area where Moscow would appear some time later (Vladimir on the Klyazma, the seat of Bogolyubsky and the center of Rostov-Suzdal principality is situated 200km north-east of Moscow). As a reminder, the Rostov-Suzdal principality was the most backward province of Kyiv Rus populated by the Volga Finns. That principality attacked Slavic cities incessantly ever since and one can view the current war Moscow wages on Kyiv as a continuation of the centuries-old aggression.
The Chronicle of Novgorod description of the attack of the troops of Andrei of Suzdal ‘Bogolyubsky’:
The ratio of casualties speaks volumes about the civilization gap between the two realms. That is probably the reason why the Novgorodians were selling the Suzdal captives at the market so cheap.
Another strong argument that Kyiv was not ruined in 1169 can be found in the world-famous epic ‘The Tale of Igor’s Campaign‘. Describing the events of 1185, the epic presents Kyiv as the center of power and beauty where Igor returns after the campaign. Had Kyiv been ruined in 1169, the epic would have mentioned such an event without a doubt. Besides, 16 years that had passed would not have been enough to rebuild the ruined capital.
Why the Tale of Igor’s Campaign is a Ukrainian epic and not ‘Russian’ >
P.S. ‘Russian’ in the article title is taken in the air quotes because at the time of Andriy Bogolyubsky it was Rostov-Suzdal princedom from which, according to Moscovite historians, Russia started. For example, Professor of Russian history Dr. D. Korsakov (1843-1919) in his 1872 book “Merya and Rostov Princedom” wrote that it was in Rostov-Suzdal land the Greater Russian tribe was formed which would “collect and unify the Russian land into the Russian state”. (But the 13th-century historians were of a different opinion).
More details about Bogolyubsky and Dolgorukiy are in the “Kyiv Rus in Heimskringla Sagas and Byzantine Texts” paperback book.
The “Gardariki, Ukraine” ebook is a shorter version but with a unique view of Catherine II (‘the Great’) on Yuri Dolgoruki and his founding the city of Vladimir on Klyazma. Did Yuri Dolgoruki also found Moscow? The books answer that question as well.
