Spice; God, you're such a mine of information! What was Africa called then? You're quite right; Russia wasn't called Russia and Affrica wasn't called Africa. I haven't read Soloviev, so I'm not really sure what he was saying. But why is all this interesting? I've just looked him up. Here's a quote from his website.
"This political scientist always holds his own independent opinion on the decisions and activities of Russian Federation's political elites during the period of military operations. This opinion may be too harsh and different from the mainstream one, but it is always based on facts and common sense. Readers find certain things in the materials of Vladislav Soloviev that they did not pay attention to before or simply did not want to notice. The political scientist's blog is interesting even to those who do not agree with his position. Soloviev's materials always sound relevant and fresh, and make you rethink established or imposed conventions."