The first Russian state was Kiev. It was partly influenced by the Normans (the Norse or Scandinavians), the Byzantine Empire, and the Bulgarians. The origin of the Kievan state is very closely connected with a group of people known as the Rus, and it is from them that we derive the later name Russians. Almost everything about the Rus has been the subject of controversy. Under the year 862, the Primary Chronicle [The Russian Primary Chronicle, Laurentian Text, Cambridge, MA, 1930, translated by Professor S. Cross] tells briefly about the arrival of the Rus following an invitation from the quarreling Slavic tribes of the Sloveni and the Krivichi and some Finnish tribes. The Rus had been known to some Byzantine and Oriental writers before 862 A.D. and was located in southern Russia. The Rus of Arabic writers of the 9th century are a numerous people, a tribe of Slavs, with many towns. The ruler bore the title of khakan. Some of their customs included posthumous marriage of bachelors and the suicide of wives following the death of their husbands.169

The first indications of a firmly founded government among the Eastern Slavs, in the cities of Novgorod and Kiev, can be observed only in the ninth century when, in 862, according to legend, a certain Rurik became the prince of Novgorod.167

Weis' "Ancestral Roots. . ." (241:1).
According to V.N. Tatischev, _Istoria Rossiyskaya s samykh_ (Moscow, 1962), Rurik was son of Umila, son of Gostomtysl (Pr. of Velikly Grad), son of Barivoy.
As of this writing a new interest in the origins of the Rus is awakening. We are finding out that it is quite possible that no one named Rurik was involved with the beginning of this dynasty and that IGOR was actually the first verifiable ancestor of the Rus.
"John Bailey" posted to soc.genealogy.medieval on 6 Nov 1997
Subject: Rurik Dynasty of Kiev; From Rurik to Yaroslav the Wise
"Ruri, also spelled Rorik, or Hrorekr, the semilegendary founder of the Rurik dynasty of Kievan Rus. Rurik was a Viking, or Varangian, prince. His story is told in the Russian Primary Chronicle (compiled at the beginning of the 12th century) but is not accepted at face value by modern historians. According to the chronicle, the people of Novgorod, tired of political strife, invited the Varangians about 862 CE to establish an orderly and just government there. Hence, Rurik came with his two brothers and a large retinue (druzhina) and became ruler of the city and region of Novgorod.
Some historians think that Rurik came from the Scandinavian peninsula or from Jutland (now in Denmark) and seized the town of Ladoga, on Lake Ladoga. After establishing a stronghold there (c. 855), he may have gone southward along the Volkhov and captured Novgorod.
Another possibility is that Rurik and his army were mercenaries, hired to guard the Volkhov- Dnepr waterway, who turned against their employers. Rurik's kinsman Oleg founded the grand principality of Kiev. Oleg's successor, Igor, believed to be Rurik's son, is considered the real founder of the Russian princely house."