[lvxferre]

That's pretty much confirmed already; Kievan Rus' (middle ages government) with Rurik = Hrœrekr of Ladoga in 862, who was an Old Norse speaker; not even four generations later his family was already native Common East Slavic speakers, assimilated to the locals, like the very name of Svyatoslav I of Kiev shows. The process was extremely similar to what happened in Italy with the Longobardi and in Spain with the Visigoth.

And that Kievan Rus' is the ancestor state of Ukraine (aka Ruthenia), Belarus (white Ruthenia/Rus') and Russia (Rus'-ia). The very trident that you see in the Ukrainian coat of arms is almost certainly a Rurik symbol: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_Ukraine#Tryzub

>Russian state going rogue in an invasion

I'm not even a tiny bit surprised. The Russian government is one of those states where you don't expect anything reasonable, human, or moral.

[drran]

Trident is an anchor, symbol of Christianity, like cross or fish. The cross is the top part of an anchor, while the anchor itself is in the lower part. Anchor has such complex geometry because it weaved from wire. Similar anchors in full form can be found on some rare ancient Greek coins made in Khersones seaport (now Sevastopol). The anchor is similar to the symbol used by Rurik dynasty, so they liked it.