Intention of the Russian state to expand its borders in the East as a sign of the assertion of its power and independence

Expansion to the new territories under the authority of the Russian Crown is considered in a wide ethno-political context. For the Muscovite state, territorial augmentation was a way of expanding its influence under the conditions of increasing competition from the national European states. Direct administrative subordination of neighboring peoples was presented as a symbol of the power of the “Third Rome” on the world stage. The author arguments that for these purposes there was a constant establishment of relations with neighboring proto-states and states. The tsarist authorities considered the report to the neighboring military-potestary and state associations about their new possessions to be the final symbolic formalization of the territories. The disagreement of neighbors resulted in a long-term border conflict. The tsarist title to new possessions did not involve any challenge. The Moscow government sought to introduce the world order existing in the central part of the country in all the territories under its control. This was a part of the symbolic inclusion of new territories in the ethnopolitical community, along with fiscal tax accounting, which marked the inclusion in the socio-economic community. It is proved that in most of these actions, serious military clashes were avoided. The reason was government policy. It incorporated the autochthonous population in these processes. The increase in the resettled Russian population stimulated the development of new territories and the construction of new towns. It is concluded that, by the end of the 17th century, Siberia had largely lost its dependence on the Moscow state. However, the coherency with European Russia only grew, implicating all aspects of life, including cultural.