The book is devoted to the analysis of sources and modern points of view on the formation of the Old Russian state. The whole complex of written and archaeological sources on the genesis of the East Slavic state is considered. The paper presents theoretical aspects of the concept of the state, the causes and ways of its occurrence. A number of problems - the role of the Scandinavian element, the hypothesis of the existence of the "northern confederation of tribes" and the "Russian Kaganate" - are being investigated against a wide background of international relations of the early medieval period.