Is Medieval Novgorod a Modern Ukraine?

Located roughly 150 miles southwest of St. Petersburg sits the city of Novgorod, or as it was called by its inhabitants in medieval times, Lord Novgorod the Great. Long a Baltic outpost of Kievan Rus’ and an appendage of its rotational system of princely rule, the citizens of Novgorod decided to ditch their Kievan-selected prince, Vsevolod Mstislavich, in May 1136 and establish for themselves an independent republican regime.