The history of the Russian language traces its origins to the East Slavic languages spoken by the early inhabitants of the Kievan Rus' around the 9th century. It evolved from Old East Slavic, which was influenced by the Church Slavonic language brought by Byzantine missionaries, particularly after the Christianization of Kievan Rus' in 988. Over the centuries, the language underwent significant changes, such as the development of a more distinct grammar and vocabulary in the 14th and 15th centuries. The emergence of Moscow as a political and cultural center in the 15th and 16th centuries contributed to the consolidation of the Russian language, with literary works in the language becoming more widespread during the reign of Ivan the Terrible and the rise of the Russian Empire.

In the modern era, Russian continued to evolve, with the 18th century marking a pivotal point under the influence of Peter the Great, who reformed the language by introducing a more standardized system of grammar and spelling, drawing from Western European languages. The 19th century saw the flourishing of Russian literature, with writers like Pushkin, Tolstoy, and Dostoevsky shaping the language's literary legacy. During the Soviet period, the Russian language became the lingua franca of the Soviet Union and was promoted through official policies, while the influence of the Russian diaspora and global media continued to expand its reach. Today, Russian remains one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, with over 250 million speakers.