Russian state formed on the trade route. On one of the greatest trade routes in history, stretching two and a half thousand kilometers from the Gulf of Finland through the Neva, Ladoga, Volkhov, Ilmen, a system of dragging to the Dnieper and from there along the Black Sea past Kherson to Constantinople. It was in this way that in 882 prophetic Oleg went from Novgorod to Kyiv, uniting under his authority the two largest trade and craft centers and laying the foundation for Old Russian statehood.