In 1988, having built a replica of a Viking long boat, Peissel and a crew of six rowed and sailed up the river Dvina and down the Dnieper 2400 km across the Soviet Union, from the Baltic to the Black Sea; an expedition meant to recreate that of the Varangians, the founding fathers of the Russian monarchy in the 8th century.
Varangians, ancestors of the Rus' sometimes called "Vikings" in English publications
In the mid-9th century, the Volkhov was a heavily populated trade artery of the Varangian-dominated Rus' Khaganate.
The Byzantine catepan of Italy, Michael Doukeianos, moved from Bari with the few troops he could muster, including some Varangians, troops from the Opsikion tagma and several Thracians.
The centre, which had constituted the rearguard on the march, was commanded by Kontostephanos himself, and consisted of the imperial guards units, including the Varangians and Hetaireiai, units of Italian mercenaries from Lombardy (probably lancers) and a unit of 500 armored Serbian allied infantry, as well as the Vlach cavalry.
Of historical note, both haplogroups I-M253 and I-M223 appear at a low frequency in the historical regions of Bithynia and Galatia in Turkey, possibly descendants of the Thracians, Cataphract of Alexander the Great at 334 BC, and Varangians, who are historically recorded to have invaded those parts of Anatolia from the 9th to 11th centuries.