Interesting news clip on Hinduism in Russia

This is an interesting article I came across. It was originally published in 'The Hindu' in 2000. One more example of how ancient Hinduism is and no one truly knows how and where it all began!

Historic ties
Sir, - It augurs well for strengthening the bond between India and Russia when so many political leaders have openly acknowledged the importance of the age-old relationship between India and Russia, during the recent visit of the Russian President, Mr. Vladimir Putin (The Hindu, Oct. 5).
While Mr. Vajpayee has drawn our attention to the correspondence between Mahatma Gandhi and the Russian novelist, Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), I would like to go back much earlier even to the Puranic age when India had established cultural contacts with that part of the globe which is at present called Russia.
It appears that a few years ago a Russian orientalist by name Prof. Ribakov from Moscow went to Kanchi to have the darshan and receive the blessings of the late Kanchi Paramacharya. The Paramacharya asked the Russian professor: ``Does not the northernmost part of Russia have more Sanskrit content in the language?'' The professor was stunned. This scholar, who came to ask questions, shed tears of joy at the very sight of the Paramacharya and was dumbfounded at the depth of his scholarship. The Paramacharya further explained to the Russian that Russia was called `Rishi Varsha' in ancient Indian geography, because it was the land where our Rishis like sage Yagnavalkya had their conference on the Vedas. This could further be corroborated by the fact that some women in the northernmost point of Russia have names like Lopamudrova, which is stunningly close to Lopamudra, wife of sage Agastya.
It may be recalled that during the Sankalpa (a solemn vow to perform an observance) at the time of Pooja, we frequently use the term Jambu Dweepa. This term actually means the entire region covering Asia and Europe, as is evidenced from descriptions in Puranic geography. Even today I understand that in the USSR while writing the postal address, the name of the country is written first and then followed by such specifications as the city, town, area, street number, etc., in that sequence. This is an ancient Hindu tradition which we follow even today during our daily Sankalpa in Pujas.
B. M. N. Murthy,
Bangalore