Analysis of the "Tale of Bygone Years" allows us to identify several stages in the formation of the Russian state. One of them is closely connected with the territory of the North-West, more precisely the Ladoga area.
There is a mention of a certain mysterious island located across the sea as a place where the Rus people are. With a sober analysis, it can be argued that the same "overseas" is nothing more than the outskirts of Ladoga. It was from here that the Great Path "from the Varangians to the Greeks" began. If we accept that the island, which was located on the site of the present Karelian Isthmus and was the place of residence of those same Rus, then everything falls into place.
Geologists are absolutely sure that the Karelian Isthmus was once a real island. In the historical chronicles of the period when Vyborg was founded, there is information that there is a certain waterway, which makes it possible to pass to Ladoga from the Gulf of Finland. Then the Karelian Isthmus was a real island, within the water system, which included the bay, the Neva, and Vuoksa, which then had no connection with Lake Sukhodolskoye.
Ladoga "Atlantis"
According to one of the versions, it is the Karelian Isthmus that should be considered the island of Rus. It was known from a number of Arab chronicles of the 9th century. Ibn Rust and Gardizi mentioned him. Chroniclers describe it as a wooded and swampy place that can be traversed within three days. Also, the chronicles speak of a huge population that does not run farms, but feeds on war and campaigns.
