Orthodoxy was adopted in 988 by the Russian prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich. Kievan Rus went for a long time towards the adoption of Christianity and transformation from a pagan state into an Orthodox one. This was due to economic, political and socio-cultural prerequisites.
In the X century, Kievan Rus was a state that actively participated in international relations with developed European countries. By that time, they had already been baptized a long time ago and lived according to civilized rules. In their eyes, Russia looked like a barbaric state. Paganism only aggravated this situation and more and more alienated the state from profitable economic and political cooperation. European sovereigns and emperors did not want to trade with pagans and enter into dynastic marriages. It was necessary to urgently change the current situation. One of the decisions was the adoption of Christianity, namely its Orthodox branch. Another reason that prompted Prince Vladimir to take this step was the socio-cultural fragmentation of the state. It was divided into small areas with their own customs, culture, traditions, etc. This markedly disunited the population, and it was difficult to manage it. The adoption of a single religion could become that common factor uniting all the inhabitants of Russia. Moreover, Orthodoxy was adopted for ideological reasons. The rulers needed the most powerful support, which should be aimed at strengthening their importance and the significance of the state as such. The difficulty was that paganism could not provide such support, it did not "work" for the state in any way. On the contrary, its significance was reduced to zero. Orthodoxy proclaims that power is given to the sovereign from God and that the ruler is the person who represents the deity on earth, which means that all his actions should be perceived as exceptionally true. The first step towards the adoption of Christianity in Russia was made by Princess Olga, who was baptized in the main Byzantine church of St. Sophia. The emperor himself became her godfather. However, all her attempts to convince her son Svyatoslav to accept baptism ended in failure. He was a zealous adherent of paganism. Russia was baptized only under the grandson of Princess Olga Vladimir in 988.
