Russian, or русский язык in Russian, is an Indo-European language of the Slavic family with around 200 million native speakers. It is the first language of most Russians and the second language of many others from the 19th century Soviet Union. Although influenced by other languages throughout its history, Russian has preserved a core of lexical and grammatical simplicity that makes it one of the easiest Slavic languages to learn for English speakers without prior knowledge of Slavic languages.
The history of Russian
The earliest written evidence of Russian dates back to 11th-century Novgorod, when it was spoken among traders and merchants. The Kievan Rus period (10th–13th centuries) is known for the oldest extant structure in Moscow, Bolshoi Theatre, and for numerous friezes on Kyiv’s walls.
Muscovy emerged as a powerful khanate that was a part of a union of Northern East Slavic territories, which eventually evolved into the Tsardom of Russia. During the Mongol invasion of Rus’, most of its territory became tributary to Golden Horde. In 1547 Grand Prince Ivan IV established a new legal code, called Sudebnik (Судебникъ), based on Lithuanian law. In the second half of the 20th century, Russian was also widely taught in nations within the Soviet sphere of influence, particularly in eastern Europe.