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Petition calls on Poroshenko to rename Ukraine into Kievan Rus

Other petitions of Ukrainians ask for appointing Georgia's ex-president Ukrainian PM, allowing marijuana, renaming Russia into Moskovya and charging fees for Russian satellites’ flights over Ukraine

Ukraine's president Petro Poroshenko Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Ukraine's president Petro Poroshenko

© Sean Gallup/Getty Images

KIEV, March 31. /TASS/. A petition proposing to rename Ukraine into Kievan Rus has been registered on the website of President Petro Poroshenko and 92 people have already voted in favor of the initiative.

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"Return to our country the historic name Kievan Rus so that they do not say that we have never been independent," says the author of the petition who believes that the modern Ukraine, not Russia is the successor of the first East Slavic state.

Kievan Rus was the first organized state located on the lands of modern Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. The origin and the name of Kievan Rus remain matters of debate among historians.

The petition service was introduced on the Ukrainian presidential website in late August last year. The president considers a petition if it is backed by at least 25,000 Ukrainians.

Ukrainians have submitted dozens of proposals, including those on appointing former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili Ukraine's prime minister, on allowing marijuana, on renaming Russia into Moskovya and on charging fees for Russian satellites’ flights over Ukraine.

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