Andrey Velikanov analyzes our understanding of Russian-ness and considers various aspects of the concept.
The simplest analysis of the concept “Russian” will lead us to a discussion of its etymology, the obvious meaning commonly associated with it, and pointing to one’s ethnicity. A much more difficult question to answer is whether we believe ethnic Russians must have a good command of the Russian language. However, this is nothing compared to the questions of the trauma caused by the fall of the empire (often compared to Versailles Syndrome), excessive patriotism, and national pride in the absence of shame.
‘… In a recent article, Karpovich gives a very original opinion on the etymology of the word “Rus’”, deriving it from the Latin “rus”, meaning village. This was inspired by the epigraph to the second chapter of Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin: ‘’Oh Rus! O rus!” It was the Romans who called the entire Slavic world a village, and the Slavic village world has appropriated the name given to it by the Romans.’ (V. O. Klyuchevsky. The Terms of Russian History. 1904.)