Russian Telegram channel "Русская история" (Russian History) has spread a fake that Ladoga was the first capital of medieval Rus.

Dmytro Gordiyenko, PhD in History, Senior Research Fellow at the M.S. Hrushevsky Institute of Ukrainian Archeography and Source Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, commented on the above:

"1) Latest reconstruction of some Russian historians claims that Ladoga is the city to which the legendary Rurik arrived. Why the "traditional" version about Rurik arriving in Novgorod does not fit anymore? The answer is simple: in the middle of the fifteenth century Novgorod was captured by Moscow, and its population was brutally slaughtered, so it is impossible to derive "Russian history" from it.

2) The suggestion that Rurik arrived in Ladoga and began to rule there is used by Russians to prove that it was the ruler of Ladoga who captured Kyiv and created the medieval state there. However, the chronicles do not name the city to which Rurik arrived. It is only mentioned that he was invited by Ilmenian tribes, meaning Finno-Ugric tribes. Whether he was really the father of Igor (the prince of Rus) is doubtful. But most importantly, according to the "Tale of Bygone Years," the Rus land was named so after the campaign of Kyivan princes Askold and Dir to Constantinople in 862, who later died at the hands of Oleh — allegedly Rurik's governor. If the latter is true, the state with its center in Kyiv was formed before the arrival of Oleg, and thus of Rurik's imaginary son, Igor. In addition, the chronicler presents an alternative history of the Kyivan statehood — originating from Prince Kyi, who went to Constantinople and had never even heard of Ladoga or Novgorod. Therefore, this statement does not correspond even to medieval legends.

So, by sharing this fake Russians are trying

1) to justify Moscow's aggressive policy toward Ukraine with historical "justification";

2) to untie the origins of their statehood from Kyiv. 

The latter does not really play into their hands. After all, according to all sources, the entire local state-building originated in Kyiv, so this concept contradicts the sources completely and, most interestingly, the Russian historiography itself, millions of copies of which they have pelted all the world's libraries. Thus, in order to deny themselves, Russians will need to spend enormous resources." 

Post-Past has already published an article about Russia's attempts to erase Kyiv from the history of Rus. All of this is part of their efforts to "appropriate" the legacy of the medieval state by dismantling associations with Ukraine.