By 1000AD, Kiev had become the Viking capital of Russia. Scanidnavian vikings had close connections with Ukraine 1000 years ago. Three major events demonstrate the close ties with the vikings from Norway, Sweden and Denmark. 
Grand Prince of Kyiv, Yaroslav I, known as The Wise was married to a Swedish princess, Ingigerd-Iryna, daughter of King Olaf (Olof) SkotkonungThere is no doubt that Swedes played a considerable role in the early history of Ukraine. Rulers of Kyiv in the second half of the ninth and early tenth centuries were Vikings of Swedish descent, in the eleventh century, Grand Prince Yaroslav I the Wise was married to a Swedish princess, Ingigerd-Iryna.
Princess Ingigerd, daughter og King Yaritsleiv (Yaroslav) married King Olaf of SwedenShe was engaged to be married to Norwegian King Olaf II, but when Sweden and Norway got into a feud, Swedish King Olaf Skotkonung refused to go ahead with the marriage, much to the fiancee’s distress. Olaf of Norway was said to be much in love with the beautiful princess who, in an exchange of engagement gifts, had sent Olaf a cloak embroidered in gold and a silver belt. Olaf was later recognized as a national hero and even canonized as the patron saint of Norway in 1164 AD. King Olaf was quite an enterprising king: he took part in Viking expeditions, accepted Christianity, endeavoured to complete conversion of the whole of Norway but made enemies of other rulers and fled to Sweden, tried to reconquer Norway but was defeated and killed in a battle.
Something must have told Ingigerd’s father that though Olaf seemed quite an eligible bachelor he should seek a more stable and profitable alliance in spite of the advice given him at the general assembly of the Vikings, to give her in marriage to the Norwegian. A delegation from Gardariki , how Swedish chroniclers called Kyivan Rus, arrived just on time with a proposal from the “king” Yaritsleiv (Yaroslav) to take Ingigerd for spouse. King Olaf of Sweden did not think long and gave his consent. He must have thought such an alliance would be more beneficial for his kingdom, at that time Kyivan Rus was a powerful state of driving ambitions. However, it was now for Ingigerd to decide whether she would accept the proposal. For early medieval times, it was rather an usual thing for a daughter of a ruler (or anybody else’s daughter, for that matter) to have her say in matters of marriage but the Swedes must have respected women even then. It took her six months to reach a decision , and she agreed to have Yaritsleiv for husband.
Princess Yelizaveta (Elizabeth), daughter of the Grand Prince of Kyiv, Yaroslav I the Wise married Norwegian King Harald III (king in 1045/47 AD)The son of Sigurd Sow, a chieftain in eastern Norway, and of Estrid, mother of the Norwegian king Olaf II Haraldsson (St. Olaf), Harald fought at the age of 15 against the Danes with Olaf II in the celebrated Battle of Stiklestad in 1030 AD, in which Olaf was killed. He then fled to Kyiv, where he served under the Grand Prince of Kyiv, Yaroslav I the Wise, whose daughter Yelizaveta (Elizabeth) he later married. After enlisting in the military service of the Byzantine emperor Michael IV, he fought with the imperial armies in Sicily and Bulgaria and was said to have made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. His military exploits under Michael IV were described by both Byzantine and Norse medieval historians. When Harald returned to Norway in 1045 AD, he agreed to share the Norwegian throne with the reigning king, his nephew Magnus I Olafsson. Harald became sole ruler in 1047 AD, when Magnus died in a military expedition that the two rulers had launched against Denmark.
The photo of St Olav is from The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Moscow.
