AHC: Kiev dominant

Your challenge is to keep Kiev as the political and cultural center of *Russia to the present day. Obviously, a good starting point would be to avoid the mongol sack, but don't let the obvious limit your options, and feel to extropolate beyond the immediate "the city doesn't get sacked because x."
 
If Yaroslav the Wise could manage to at least somewhat centralize the Kievan Rus (with a capital at Kiev), perhaps with a Byzantine influence, it could centralize into a somewhat settled state. I don't know how practical this is however.
 
In OTL's early 18th century, Peter the Great defeated Sweden, winning back the territory on which he would build St. Petersburg.

What if, instead, he defeated the Crimean Khanate, and won access to the Black Sea rather than access to the Baltic. Maybe Sweden is stronger, preventing access to the Baltic.

Would an alternate Peter the Great be interested in moving the capital to Kiev to make it closer to the Mediterranean? Maybe, not having access to the West via the Baltic, the Black Sea - Mediterranean would be seen as a good second best choice? Would Kiev even be considered to have access to the Mediterranean since the Ottoman Empire is still strong (and very much in the way) at this time??
 
I don't see this as being too difficult with the right PoDs. I think a big issue with the Ukraine when the Muscovites were expanding into the area was vulnerability to Tartar raids. Prevent the rise of the Mongols and this is unlikely to be an issue.

Then you need to keep the Byzantine Empire dominant over both Thrace and Anatolia. Prevent the Fourth Crusade and you have a robust Byzantium which is likely to allow Russian traders based in Kiev more opportunities. In fact, the Italian city states had the Black Sea on lockdown, so the Venetians and especially the Genovese need to be prevented from entering into the area, which can't be too difficult.
 
Your challenge is to keep Kiev as the political and cultural center of *Russia to the present day. Obviously, a good starting point would be to avoid the mongol sack, but don't let the obvious limit your options, and feel to extropolate beyond the immediate "the city doesn't get sacked because x."

By the Mongol sack, Kiev as a shadow of what it was before. It was more a prey than a player... already sack and conquered several times before.

Still, if Kiev will not be sacked by the Mongols (a thing that nearly happens in OTL, but the governor of the city refuse the Mongol terms being sure that he will receive help from Galicia), Kiev could play the role of Moscow, at least for the southern Russian regions. This is what I choose for my TL.
Kiev will play the role of gathering the taxes from the neighbors for their Mongol masters... at least till the Horde power will gone...
 
Your challenge is to keep Kiev as the political and cultural center of *Russia to the present day. Obviously, a good starting point would be to avoid the mongol sack, but don't let the obvious limit your options, and feel to extropolate beyond the immediate "the city doesn't get sacked because x."

The city doesn't get sacked because... eee .... eeehm... well, you know... it so happened that... ughm :)
Hell, I quit...

Damn, I cannot imagine a situation, a PoD, or a shitload of PoDs, when a city so close to the Mongol steppe doesn't get sacked.
Actually in OTL all this territory was devastated, razed to the ground, burned, depopulated, it was a hunting ground for the Mongols, till the Lithuanians somehow managed to form some kind of protection.
In this region it did not make any sense to sow - as nobody was sure to have a chance to reap, and the cultivated field will catch unwanted attention of the nomads. So the locals preferred alternative occupation like fishing or something.

So, if you want to give Kiev a chance - avoid the Mongol conquests: Chengiz Khan got killed by a stray arrow when young, this kind of POD.

Than Kiev has a good chance to stay a cultural center of *Russia, it was a seat of all Russian metropolitan by the way.
I am not sure about being the political centre though...
 
It's not so much no Mongol Invasion, as it is how do you get the Kievan Rus to be an actual state instead of a collection of 10-14 feuding principalities. Still Kiev was going to decline anyway as other cities would start to rise.
 
The city doesn't get sacked because... eee .... eeehm... well, you know... it so happened that... ughm :)
Hell, I quit...

Damn, I cannot imagine a situation, a PoD, or a shitload of PoDs, when a city so close to the Mongol steppe doesn't get sacked.
Actually in OTL all this territory was devastated, razed to the ground, burned, depopulated, it was a hunting ground for the Mongols, till the Lithuanians somehow managed to form some kind of protection.
In this region it did not make any sense to sow - as nobody was sure to have a chance to reap, and the cultivated field will catch unwanted attention of the nomads. So the locals preferred alternative occupation like fishing or something.

So, if you want to give Kiev a chance - avoid the Mongol conquests: Chengiz Khan got killed by a stray arrow when young, this kind of POD.

Than Kiev has a good chance to stay a cultural center of *Russia, it was a seat of all Russian metropolitan by the way.
I am not sure about being the political centre though...

Actually I think it would be quite simple: have whoever was in charge of Kiev at the time decide these Mongols were way too scary to fight and that paying tribute was a better alternative.
 
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