SSC MTS EXAM

Detailed explanation-1: -Commerce, and particularly fur trade, was the driving force behind this expansion. By moving East along Central Eurasia, the Russians also managed to avoid the remaining, powerful steppe peoples. The highways used were the many rivers and their tributaries, allowing even further expansion to the east.

Detailed explanation-2: -Kaliningrad Oblast, westernmost part of Russia along the Baltic Sea, is about 9, 000 km (5, 600 mi) apart from its easternmost part, Big Diomede Island in the Bering Strait. This distance spans about 6, 800 kilometres (4, 200 mi), to Nome, Alaska.