Authors

Discussion

On the example of "Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii" (1549) by Sigismund von Herberstein, the research revises the documentary basis of the long-standing political myth that links modern Russia to Rus’ and serves as an ideological foundation for the legitimization of imperial expansion and contemporary neo-colonial aggression against Ukraine. This myth, consolidated through distorted historical narratives and manipulative reinterpretations of primary sources, became the epistemic core of the Russian imperial project and its claim to represent the legacy of “Great Rus’” and obtain the status of the “Third Rome.”

The study applies historical-comparative, document, and contextual-semantic analysis methods to trace how terminological and textual distortions – such as the substitution of “Muscovy” with “Russia” in translations of early modern sources – created a symbolic framework for Russia’s political and cultural domination. By analysing linguistic, cartographic, and textual evidence, the research demonstrates that Muscovy and Russia were historically distinct entities, whose concepts merged as a result of a deliberate imperial strategy.

The novelty of the research lies in its decolonial interpretation of historical epistemology: it reframes traditional source studies within the context of dismantling “imperial knowledge” and reconstructing historical truth as a form of intellectual resistance. The analysis reveals how academic and communicative practices – from translations to digital reference platforms – have perpetuated colonial hierarchies of knowledge, necessitating a systemic correction and ethical accountability in historical scholarship.

The findings emphasize that the decolonization of historical sources is not limited to linguistic precision or archival revision but represents an act of reclaiming cultural sovereignty. Reconstructing the truth about the origins of the “Rus’–Russia” myth provides a methodological basis for countering Russian neo-imperial narratives and contributes to the broader global discourse on decolonizing Eastern European history.