The fact that the adoption of Christianity has become a cornerstone in the further political, administrative and even scientific development of the Russian state has long been beyond doubt. Perhaps any schoolchild knows who baptized Russia and when it was. But the very history of the penetration of the Christian religion into Russia is covered with so many myths, secrets and legends that sometimes it’s quite difficult to figure out where the truth is and where the lie is.
First of all, many are embarrassed by the fact that there were many Christians in Russia even before the birth of Prince Vladimir. In light of this, a reasonable question arises - do we know exactly which prince baptized Russia? In fact, the real baptist of the Russian people was really Vladimir Yasnoy Solnyshko, but Christianity came to the territory of Russia with his grandmother, Princess Olga, the mother of his father, Prince Svyatoslav. It was she who adopted this religion at a time when most of the Russians were staunch admirers of Veles, Perun and Dazhdbog. Together with her wise mistress, a part of the servants close to her accepted the new faith, who began to spread the faith in Jesus on Slavic land. But to say that by 988 in Russia there was a significant number of followers of this religion would be fundamentally wrong.
Moreover, many historians, answering the question of who baptized Russia and, most importantly, what caused the sharp change in the theological views of the ancient Slavs, tell the following story. Vladimir received the princely throne and became the sole ruler of Kievan Rus for two reasons. Firstly, he deceived and then killed his own brother Yaropolk, and secondly, shortly before that, another candidate for reign, the third son of Svyatoslav, Oleg, died in battle under rather strange circumstances. Realizing that such a shaky power needs to be strengthened in the eyes of the people, he orders to honor the god Perun, who was considered the patron saint of all Russian princes, as the supreme deity. In support of his faith, he erects on the high bank of the Dnieper a huge statue of Perun, with a head covered with silver and gold.
According to the pagan rite, in order to appease God, he needs to make a sacrifice. And the prince, who in a few years will become a convinced Christian, and those who baptized Russia, believes that this sacrifice should be human. According to the cast of lots, a young man from a Christian family should have sacrificed. His father refused to give his son to death and called the prince god a simple piece of wood. An angry squad killed both father and son, but Vladimir, faced with such overt disobedience, began to doubt the loyalty of his chosen path.
This was the first step for Prince Vladimir to think. The baptism of Russia from that moment became just a matter of time. Having studied the distinguishing features of several popular world religions, he did not hesitate to decide in favor of adopting religion from Byzantium. Having been baptized directly by the church fathers, the prince returned to Kiev and began a merciless struggle with paganism. The statues and idols that stood along the banks of the Dnieper were dumped into the river, and all Kievites were ordered to gather on the shore in order to adopt a new faith.
Vladimir himself, becoming the one who baptized Russia, perfectly understood that this path would not be easy. Not all Slavs easily obeyed him and abandoned the faith of their fathers and grandfathers. A lot of blood was shed before Kievan Rus became a country of Christian religion and morality, but the purposeful Vladimir brought his work to the end and managed to unite all the Russians under the banner of a new faith. The work of conversion of the Slavs, which he had begun, took on enormous proportions and helped Kievan Rus become a united power, which in time earned the title of one of the main strongholds of Christianity.