The arrival of the Varangians in Russia. The Varangians or Varyags was the name given by Greeks, Rus' people, and others to Vikings. Between the 9th and 11th centuries, Varengians ruled the medieval state of Kievan Rus', settled among many territories of modern Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine, and formed the Byzantine Varangian Guard. According to the 12th-century Kievan Primary Chronicle, a group of Varangians known as the Rus settled in Novgorod in 862 under the leadership of Rurik.