Answer & Explanation: the Cyrillic alphabet writing system was developed in the 9th (second half) – 10th century for Slavic-speaking peoples of the Eastern Orthodox faith and in contrast, the Kievan Rus state was established from the late 9th to the mid-13th century, under the reign of the Varangian Rurik dynasty. While the state was weakened by economic factors and was eventually overrun by the Mongols, its decline begun during the late 11th century and the 12th century leading to its disintegration into various rival regional powers; the cyrillic alphabet currently is used in more than fifty languages and as such is still in existence. It is therefore safe to say that the alphabet was in existence before the creation of the Kievan Rus state.