Republics of Russia#Status of southeast Ukraine

The republics were established in early Soviet Russia after the collapse of the Russian Empire. On 15 November 1917, Vladimir Lenin issued the Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia, giving Russia's minorities the right to self-determination.{{sfn|John Raymond|1992|p=120}} This declaration, however, was never truly meant to grant minorities the right to independence and was only used to garner support among minority groups for the fledgling Soviet state in the ensuing Russian Civil War.{{Cite journal|last=Mälksoo|first=Lauri|date=April 2017|title=Soviet Approach to Right of Peoples to Self-Determination|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316558555|journal=History of International Law 2017|pages=7–8|via=ResearchGate}} Attempts to create independent states using Lenin's declaration were suppressed throughout the civil war by the Bolsheviks. When the Soviet Union was formally created on 30 December 1922, the minorities of the country were relegated to Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics (ASSR), which had less power than the union republics and were subordinate to them. In the aftermath of the civil war the Bolsheviks began a process of delimitation in order to draw the borders of the country. Through Joseph Stalin's theory on nationality, borders were drawn to create national homelands for various recognized ethnic groups.{{sfn|Cope|Ness|2016|p=237}} Early republics like the Kazakh ASSR and the Turkestan ASSR in Central Asia were dissolved and split up to create new union republics.{{sfn|Feldbrugge|Simons|Van den Berg|1985|p=467}} With delimitation came the policy of indigenization which encouraged the de-Russification of the country and promotion of minority languages and culture.{{Cite web|url=http://liamslookathistory.blogspot.com/2016/08/korenizatsiya-soviet-nationalities.html|title=Korenizatsiya: The Soviet Nationalities Policy for Recognised Minorities|last=Greenacre|first=Liam|date=2016-08-23|website=Liam's Look at History|access-date=2019-03-06|archive-date=6 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200306161747/http://liamslookathistory.blogspot.com/2016/08/korenizatsiya-soviet-nationalities.html|url-status=live}} This policy also affected ethnic Russians and was particularly enforced in ASSRs where indigenous people were already a minority in their own homeland, like the Buryat ASSR.{{Cite journal|last=Bazarova|first=Vladimirovna|date=2013|title=On the problems of indigenization in the national autonomies of Eastern Siberia in the 1920s – 1930s|url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/o-problemah-korenizatsii-v-natsionalnyh-avtonomiyah-vostochnoy-sibiri-v-1920-h-1930-h-gg|journal=Power|language=ru|volume=21|pages=176|via=CyberLeninka|access-date=5 June 2021|archive-date=5 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210605024312/https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/o-problemah-korenizatsii-v-natsionalnyh-avtonomiyah-vostochnoy-sibiri-v-1920-h-1930-h-gg|url-status=live}} Language and culture flourished and ultimately institutionalized ethnicity in the state apparatus of the country.{{sfn|Kemp|1999|p=79}} Despite this, the Bolsheviks worked to isolate the country's new republics by surrounding them within Russian territory for fear of them seeking independence. In 1925 the Bashkir ASSR lost its border with the future Kazakh SSR with the creation of the so-called "Orenburg corridor", thereby enclaving the entire Volga region.{{Cite web|last=Podobed|first=Pavlo|date=28 March 2019|title=Idel-Ural: Polyethnic Volcano of the Russian Federation|url=https://prometheus.ngo/idel-ural-polyethnic-volcano-of-the-russian-federation/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127035823/https://prometheus.ngo/idel-ural-polyethnic-volcano-of-the-russian-federation/|archive-date=27 January 2021|access-date=19 June 2020|website=Prometheus Security Environment Research Center|language=uk}} The Komi-Zyryan Autonomous Oblast lost access to the Barents Sea and became an enclave on 15 July 1929 prior to being upgraded to the Komi ASSR in 1936.{{Cite web|date=1 June 2020|title=Komi and imperial policy in the Arctic|url=http://idel-ural.org/en/archives/komi-and-imperial-policy-in-the-arctic/|access-date=19 June 2020|website=Free Idel-Ural|language=en-US|archive-date=16 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200616213910/http://idel-ural.org/en/archives/komi-and-imperial-policy-in-the-arctic/|url-status=live}}

File:Ukaz o vhozhdenii Tuvy v sostav SSSR.jpg on the incorporation of Tuva into the Soviet Union as an autonomous oblast, 11 October 1944. Tuva would not become an ASSR until 1961.]]

By the 1930s, the mood shifted as the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin stopped enforcing indigenization and began purging non-Russians from government and intelligentsia. Thus, a period of Russification set in. Russian became mandatory in all areas of non-Russian ethnicity and the Cyrillic script became compulsory for all languages of the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Chulos|Piirainen|2000|p=85}} The constitution stated that the ASSRs had power to enforce their own policies within their territory,{{sfn|Rett|1996|p=618}} but in practice the ASSRs and their titular nationalities were some of the most affected by Stalin's purges and were strictly controlled by Moscow.{{sfn|Kotljarchuk|Sundström|2017|p=15-16}} From 1937, the "bourgeois nationalists" became the "enemy of the Russian people" and indigenization was abolished.{{sfn|Chulos|Piirainen|2000|p=85}} On 22 June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, forcing it in to the Second World War, and advanced deep in to Russian territory. In response, Stalin abolished the Volga German ASSR on 7 September 1941 and exiled the Volga Germans to Central Asia and Siberia.{{Cite web|date=September 1991|title=Punished Peoples" of the Soviet Union: The Continuing Legacy of Stalin's Deportations|url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/pdfs/u/ussr/ussr.919/usssr919full.pdf|access-date=19 June 2020|website=Human Rights Watch|pages=11–74|archive-date=24 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424190917/https://www.hrw.org/reports/pdfs/u/ussr/ussr.919/usssr919full.pdf|url-status=live}} When the Soviets gained the upper hand and began recapturing territory in 1943, many minorities of the country began to be seen as German collaborators by Stalin and were accused of treason, particularly in southern Russia.{{Cite journal|last=Statiev|first=Alexander|date=2005|title=The Nature of Anti-Soviet Armed Resistance, 1942–44: The North Caucasus, the Kalmyk Autonomous Republic, and Crimea|journal=Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History|volume=6|issue=2|pages=285–318|doi=10.1353/kri.2005.0029|s2cid=161159084|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/183719|via=ResearchGate|access-date=17 May 2022|archive-date=8 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308085345/https://muse.jhu.edu/article/183719|url-status=live}} Between 1943 and 1945, ethnic Balkars,{{sfn|Bugay|1996|p=156}} Chechens,{{sfn|Askerov|2015|p=12}} Crimean Tatars,{{Cite web|last=Pohl|first=Otto|date=2000|title=The Deportation and Fate of the Crimean Tatars|url=http://hlrn.org/img/violation/Crimean_Tatar_Deportations.pdf|access-date=19 June 2020|archive-date=21 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321121744/http://hlrn.org/img/violation/Crimean_Tatar_Deportations.pdf|url-status=live}} Ingush,{{sfn|Askerov|2015|p=12}}

and Kalmyks{{sfn|Guchinova|2007|p=187–188}} were deported en masse from the region to remote parts of the country. Immediately after the deportations the Soviet government passed decrees that liquidated the Kalmyk ASSR on 27 December 1943,{{sfn|Guchinova|2007|p=187–188}} the Crimean ASSR on 23 February 1944,{{Cite web|date=July 2005|title=Transfer of the Crimea to the Ukraine|url=http://www.iccrimea.org/historical/crimeatransfer.html|access-date=19 June 2020|website=International Committee for Crimea|archive-date=15 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215025255/http://www.iccrimea.org/historical/crimeatransfer.html|url-status=live}} the Checheno-Ingush ASSR on 7 March 1944,{{sfn|Askerov|2015|p=12}} and renamed the Kabardino-Balkar ASSR the Kabardian ASSR on 8 April 1944.{{Cite web|title=Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 8, 1944 "On the resettlement of Balkars living in the Kabardino-Balkarian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, and on the renaming of the Kabardino-Balkarian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in the Kabardian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic"|url=http://www.libussr.ru/doc_ussr/ussr_4485.htm|access-date=19 June 2020|website=Library USSR|language=ru|archive-date=27 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827165954/http://www.libussr.ru/doc_ussr/ussr_4485.htm|url-status=live}} After Stalin's death on 5 March 1953, the new government of Nikita Khrushchev sought to undo his controversial legacy. During his Secret speech on 25 February 1956 Khrushchev rehabilitated Russia's minorities.{{sfn|Tanner|2004|p=31}} The Kabardino-Balkar ASSR and the Checheno-Ingush ASSR{{sfn|Polian|2004|p=199}} were restored on 9 January 1957 while the Kalmyk ASSR was restored on 29 July 1958.{{sfn|Polian|2004|p=199}} The government, however, refused to restore the Volga German ASSR{{Citation|url=https://www.csce.gov/sites/helsinkicommission.house.gov/files/Minority%20Rights%20Problem%20Parameters%20and%20Patters%20in%20the%20CSCE%20Context.pdf|title=Minority Rights: Problems, Parameters, and Patterns in the CSCE Context|publisher=Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe|year=1991|location=Washington, DC|pages=59|access-date=17 June 2021|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624200902/https://www.csce.gov/sites/helsinkicommission.house.gov/files/Minority%20Rights%20Problem%20Parameters%20and%20Patters%20in%20the%20CSCE%20Context.pdf|url-status=live}} and the Crimean ASSR, the latter of which was transferred to the Ukrainian SSR on 19 February 1954.

File:Soviet Union Administrative Divisions 1989.jpg in 1954–1991]]

The autonomies of the ASSRs varied greatly throughout the history of the Soviet Union but Russification would nevertheless continue unabated and internal Russian migration to the ASSRs would result in various indigenous people becoming minorities in their own republics. At the same time, the number of ASSRs grew; the Karelian ASSR was formed on 6 July 1956 after being a union republic from 1940{{sfn|Gladman|2004|p=102}} while the partially recognized state of Tuva was annexed by the Soviets on 11 October 1944 and became the Tuvan ASSR on 10 October 1961.{{Cite journal|last=Toomas|first=Alatalu|date=1992|title=Tuva: A State Reawakens|journal=Soviet Studies|publisher=Taylor & Francis, Ltd|volume= 44|issue=5|pages= 881–895|doi=10.1080/09668139208412051|issn=0038-5859|jstor=152275}} By the 1980s General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev's introduction of glasnost began a period of revitalization of minority culture in the ASSRs.{{sfn|Simons|Westerlund|2015|p=81}} From 1989, Gorbachev's Soviet Union and the Russian SFSR, led by Boris Yeltsin, were locked in a power struggle. Yeltsin sought support from the ASSRs by promising more devolved powers and to build a federation "from the ground up".{{sfn|Ross|2002|p=207}} On 12 June 1990, the Russian SFSR issued a Declaration of State Sovereignty, proclaiming Russia a sovereign state whose laws take priority over Soviet ones.{{Cite web|last=Woodruff|first=David|date=12 June 1990|title=Russian republic declares sovereignty|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/06/12/Russian-republic-declares-sovereignty/9247645163200/|access-date=17 June 2020|website=UPI|language=en}} The following month Yeltsin told the ASSRs to "take as much sovereignty as you can swallow" during a speech in Kazan, Tatar ASSR.{{sfn|Newton|Tompson|2010|p=119}}

These events prompted the ASSRs to assert themselves against a now weakened Soviet Union. Throughout 1990 and 1991, most of the ASSRs followed Russia's lead and issued "declarations of sovereignty", elevating their statuses to that of union republics within a federal Russia.{{sfn|Kahn|2002|p=106}} The Dagestan ASSR and Mordovian ASSR were the only republics that did not proclaim sovereignty.{{Cite journal|last=Zamyatin|first=Konstantin|date=2013|title=Sovereignisation and State Languages: Early Formation of Language Policy of Russia's Finno-Ugric Republics in the Conditions of the USSR Disintegration|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/20125831.pdf|journal=Finnish-Ugric Communications|volume=36|pages=132|via=University of Helsinki|access-date=19 November 2020|archive-date=24 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224162327/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/20125831.pdf|url-status=live}}

In the final year of the Soviet Union, negotiations were underway for a new treaty to restructure the country in to a loose confederation. Gorbachev invited the ASSRs to be participants in the drafting of the treaty, thereby recognizing them as equal to the union republics.{{Cite journal|last=Starovoitova|first=Galina|date=1997|title=Sovereignty After Empire: Self-Determination Movements in the Former Soviet Union|url=https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/pwks19.pdf|journal=Peaceworks|volume=19|pages=5–11|via=United States Institute of Peace|access-date=6 June 2021|archive-date=5 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905002501/https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/pwks19.pdf|url-status=dead}} However, a coup attempt in August 1991 derailed the negotiations and the union republics began to declare their independence throughout the year. The Soviet Union collapsed on 26 December 1991 and the position of the ASSRs became uncertain. By law, the ASSRs did not have the right to secede from the Soviet Union like the union republics did{{sfn|Berman|Yakovlev|1996|p=104–105}}{{sfn|Saunders|Strukov|2010|p=59}} but the question of independence from Russia nevertheless became a topic of discussion in some of the ASSRs. The declarations of sovereignty adopted by the ASSRs were divided on the topic of secession. Some advocated the integrity of the Russian Federation, others were muted on the subject, while others like the Komi ASSR,{{Citation|last=Nikodimovna|first=Evdokia|url=https://www.rulit.me/books/prodolzhaya-letopis-predkov-read-229234-1.html#section_1|title=Continuing the Chronicle of Ancestors ... (Notes of a Komi human rights activist)|publisher=Polygraph-Service Printing House LLC|year=2008|location=Syktyvkar|pages=48–49|language=ru|quote=The Supreme Soviet of the Komi SSR reserves the right to terminate agreements and contracts with the RSFSR and the USSR. The decision to secede from the RSFSR and the USSR is taken by way of a referendum.|access-date=6 June 2021|archive-date=22 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122024759/https://www.rulit.me/books/prodolzhaya-letopis-predkov-read-229234-1.html#section_1|url-status=live}} Mari ASSR,{{Cite web|date=6 January 2010|title=Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Mari SSR|url=https://constitutions.ru/?p=2930|access-date=5 June 2020|website=Pashkov Library|language=ru|quote=The Mari SSR reserves the right to self-determination and change its state and legal status.}} and Tuvan ASSR{{Cite web|last=Bairovich|first=Chimit-Dorzhu|date=31 May 2012|title=Adoption of the Declaration on State Sovereignty of the Soviet Republic of Tuva|url=https://www.tuva.asia/journal/issue_14/4816-ondar.html|access-date=5 June 2020|website=Tuva Asia|language=ru|quote=The Soviet Republic of Tuva confirms its right to self-determination, exercised on the basis of a popular referendum of the republic's population.|archive-date=15 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215073207/https://www.tuva.asia/journal/issue_14/4816-ondar.html|url-status=live}} reserved the right to self-determination. Yeltsin was an avid supporter of national sovereignty and recognized the independence of the union republics in what was called a "parade of sovereignties".{{sfn|Berman|Yakovlev|1996|p=104–105}} In regards to the ASSRs, however, Yeltsin did not support secession and tried to prevent them from declaring independence. The Checheno-Ingush ASSR, led by Dzhokhar Dudayev, unilaterally declared independence on 1 November 1991{{Cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/profile-dzhokhar-dudayev-lone-wolf-of-grozny-1569145.html|title=Dzhokhar Dudayev: Lone wolf of Grozny|last=Higgins|first=Andrew|date=1995-01-22|website=The Independent|language=en|access-date=2019-03-06|archive-date=27 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190227120837/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/profile-dzhokhar-dudayev-lone-wolf-of-grozny-1569145.html|url-status=live}} and Yeltsin would attempt to retake it on 11 December 1994, beginning the First Chechen War.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/12/-sp-chechnya-russia-war-anniversary|title=The Chechen wars murdered Russian democracy in its cradle|last=Muratov|first=Dmitry|date=2014-12-12|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-03-06|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} When the Tatar ASSR held a referendum on whether to declare independence on 21 March 1992, he had the ballot declared illegal by the Constitutional Court.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1992/03/23/tatarstan-votes-for-self-rule-repudiating-russia-and-yeltsin/6f780a8f-bbf6-4092-8f1e-b7aa7badbcd0/|title=Tatarstan Votes for Self-Rule Repudiating Russia and Yeltsin|last=Shapiro|first=Margaret|date=1992-03-23|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=2019-03-06|archive-date=10 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200310010257/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1992/03/23/tatarstan-votes-for-self-rule-repudiating-russia-and-yeltsin/6f780a8f-bbf6-4092-8f1e-b7aa7badbcd0/|url-status=live}}

File:Evstafiev-chechnya-palace-gunman.jpg during the battle of Grozny, January 1995. The building became a symbol of resistance for the supporters of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.]]

On 31 March 1992, every subject of Russia except the Tatar ASSR and the de facto state of Chechnya signed the Treaty of Federation with the government of Russia, solidifying its federal structure and Boris Yeltsin became the country's first president.{{Cite news|url=https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/tatarstan-special-status-expires-58483|title=Tatarstan, the Last Region to Lose Its Special Status Under Putin|last=Smirnova|first=Lena|date=2017-07-24|work=The Moscow Times|access-date=2017-08-07|language=en|archive-date=29 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181229183213/https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/tatarstan-special-status-expires-58483|url-status=live}} The ASSRs were dissolved and became the modern day republics. The number of republics increased dramatically as the autonomous oblasts of Adygea, Gorno-Altai, Khakassia, and Karachay-Cherkessia were elevated to full republics,{{cite law|type=Law|number=1535-1|date=3 July 1991|title=On the Procedures of the Transformation of Adyghe, Gorno-Altai, Karachay-Cherkess, and Khakas Autonomous Oblasts into the Soviet Socialist Republics of the RSFSR|url=http://pravo.gov.ru/proxy/ips/?docbody=&nd=102011950&rdk=&backlink=1|language=ru}} while the Ingush portion of the Checheno-Ingush ASSR refused to be part of the breakaway state and rejoined Russia as the Republic of Ingushetia on 4 June 1992.{{Cite web|url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/ingushetia-abandoned/|title=Ingushetia Abandoned|last=Pakhomenko|first=Varvara|date=2009-08-16|website=Open Democracy|access-date=2019-04-30|archive-date=6 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200306164952/https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/ingushetia-abandoned/|url-status=live}} The Republic of Tatarstan demanded its own agreement to preserve its autonomy within the Russian Federation and on 15 February 1994, Moscow and Kazan signed a power-sharing deal, in which the latter was granted a high degree of autonomy. 45 other regions, including the other republics, would go on to sign autonomy agreements with the federal center.{{Cite journal|last=Chuman|first=Mizuki|title=The Rise and Fall of Power-Sharing Treaties Between Center and Regions in Post-Soviet Russia|url=http://demokratizatsiya.pub/archives/19_2_L7H017206G216817.pdf|journal=Demokratizatsiya|pages=135–146|access-date=7 March 2019|archive-date=8 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190308002915/http://demokratizatsiya.pub/archives/19_2_L7H017206G216817.pdf|url-status=live}} By the mid 1990s, the overly complex structure of the various bilateral agreements between regional governments and Moscow sparked a call for reform. The constitution of Russia was the supreme law of the country, but in practice, the power-sharing agreements superseded it while the poor oversight of regional affairs left the republics to be governed by authoritarian leaders who ruled for personal benefit.{{Cite web|url=https://freedomhouse.org/report/nations-transit/2005/russia|title=Nations in Transit: Russia|date=2005|website=Freedom House|access-date=2019-03-06|quote=The vast majority of governors were corrupt, ruling their regions as tyrants for their personal benefit and that of their closest allies.|archive-date=7 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190307173824/https://freedomhouse.org/report/nations-transit/2005/russia|url-status=dead}} Meanwhile, the war in Chechnya entered a stalemate as Russian forces were unable to wrest control of the republic despite capturing the capital Grozny on 8 February 1995 and killing Dudayev months later in an airstrike.{{Cite web|last=Arslanbenzer|first=Hakan|date=2019-11-14|title=Dzhokhar Dudayev: Fighting for a free Chechnya|url=https://www.dailysabah.com/portrait/2019/11/14/dzhokhar-dudayev-fighting-for-a-free-chechnya|access-date=2020-06-23|website=Daily Sabah|language=en}} Faced with a demoralized army and universal public opposition to the war, Yeltsin was forced to sign the Khasavyurt Accord with Chechnya on 30 August 1996 and eventually withdrew troops.{{Cite web|last=Fuller|first=Liz|date=30 August 2006|title=Khasavyurt Accords Failed To Preclude A Second War|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1070939.html|access-date=2020-06-23|website=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|language=en|archive-date=28 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528080020/https://www.rferl.org/a/1070939.html|url-status=live}} A year later Chechnya and Russia signed the Moscow Peace Treaty, ending Russia's attempts to retake the republic.{{Cite news|last=Stanley|first=Alessandra|date=1997-05-13|title=Yeltsin Signs Peace Treaty With Chechnya|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/13/world/yeltsin-signs-peace-treaty-with-chechnya.html|access-date=2020-06-23|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=20 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101120112625/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/13/world/yeltsin-signs-peace-treaty-with-chechnya.html|url-status=live}} As the decade drew to a close, the fallout from the failed Chechen war and the subsequent financial crisis in 1998 resulted in Yeltsin resigning on 31 December 1999.{{Cite web|last=Sinelschikova|first=Yekaterina|date=2019-12-31|title=How Boris Yeltsin, Russia's first president, resigned|url=https://www.rbth.com/history/331510-how-boris-yeltsin-resigned|access-date=2020-06-23|website=Russia Beyond|language=en-US}}

File:Vladimir Putin in Tuva 2007-54.jpg with local people in the Siberian republic of Tuva, 2007]]

File:Ил Күнэ - День государственности Республики Саха 27.jpg, the capital of the Republic of Sakha, 2013]]

Yeltsin declared Vladimir Putin as interim president and his successor. Despite preserving the republic's de facto independence following the war, Chechnya's new president Aslan Maskhadov proved incapable of fixing the republic's devastated economy and maintaining order as the territory became increasingly lawless and a breeding ground for Islamic fundamentalism.{{Cite news|date=2005-03-09|title=Aslan Maskhadov|language=en-GB|work=The Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1485209/Aslan-Maskhadov.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1485209/Aslan-Maskhadov.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=2020-06-24|issn=0307-1235}}{{cbignore}} Using this lawlessness extremists invaded neighboring Dagestan and bombed various apartment blocks in Russia, resulted in Putin sending troops into Chechnya again on 1 October 1999.{{sfn|René|2018|p=147–148}} Chechen resistance quickly fell apart in the face of a federal blitzkrieg and indiscriminate bombing campaign as troops captured Grozny on 6 February 2000 and pushed rebels in to the mountains.{{Cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPcap/2000-02/07/076r-020700-idx.html|title=Russians Capture Grozny|last=Williams|first=Daniel|date=2000-02-07|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=2019-04-30|archive-date=1 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501002404/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPcap/2000-02/07/076r-020700-idx.html|url-status=live}} Moscow imposed direct rule on Chechnya on 9 June 2000{{Cite news|last=Hoffman|first=David|date=9 June 2000|title=Putin Lays Direct Rule on Chechnya|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2000/06/09/putin-lays-direct-rule-on-chechnya/48c6de74-33f0-4ae6-bae8-2f3453a5b0d6/|access-date=24 June 2020|newspaper=The Washington Post|archive-date=26 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626135449/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2000/06/09/putin-lays-direct-rule-on-chechnya/48c6de74-33f0-4ae6-bae8-2f3453a5b0d6/|url-status=live}} and the territory was officially reintegrated in to the Russian Federation as the Chechen Republic on 24 March 2003.{{Cite news|last=Aris|first=Ben|date=2003-03-24|title=Boycott call in Chechen poll ignored|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/1425501/Boycott-call-in-Chechen-poll-ignored.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/1425501/Boycott-call-in-Chechen-poll-ignored.html|archive-date=12 January 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|access-date=2020-06-24|website=The Telegraph|issn=0307-1235}}{{cbignore}}

Putin would participate in the 26 March 2000 election on the promise of completely restructuring the federal system and restoring the authority of the central government.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/09/world/russian-regions-wary-as-putin-tightens-control.html|title=Russian Regions Wary as Putin Tightens Control|last=Bohlen|first=Celestine|date=2000-03-09|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-03-06|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=7 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190307112349/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/09/world/russian-regions-wary-as-putin-tightens-control.html|url-status=live}} The power-sharing agreements began to gradually expire or be terminated and after 2003 only Tatarstan and Bashkortostan continued to negotiate on their treaties' extensions. Bashkortostan's power-sharing treaty expired on 7 July 2005,{{Cite thesis|last=Turner|first=Cassandra|date=2018|title=We Never Said We're Independent: Natural Resources, Nationalism, and the Fight for Political Autonomy in Russia's Regions|type=BA thesis|publisher=University of Mississippi|url=https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/167/|page=49|access-date=15 March 2023|archive-date=15 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315153358/https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/167/|url-status=live}}{{better source needed|date=March 2023}} leaving Tatarstan as the sole republic to maintain its autonomy, which was renewed on 11 July 2007.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1077565.html|title=Federation Council Backs Power-Sharing Bill|date=2007-07-11|website=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|access-date=2017-09-03|archive-date=30 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430032306/https://www.rferl.org/a/1077565.html|url-status=live}} After an attack by Chechen separatists at a school in Beslan, North Ossetia, Putin abolished direct elections for governors and assumed the power to personally appoint and dismiss them.{{Cite news|url=https://jamestown.org/devolution-russian-federalism/|title=The Devolution of Russian Federalism|last=Shtepa|first=Vadim|date=2017-04-04|website=Jamestown|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-06|archive-date=12 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200412075326/https://jamestown.org/devolution-russian-federalism/|url-status=live}} Throughout the decade, influential regional leaders like Mintimer Shaimiev of Tatarstan{{Cite news|url=https://carnegie.ru/2010/01/25/mintimer-shaimiev-steps-down-as-president-of-tatarstan-pub-40503|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507015218/https://carnegie.ru/2010/01/25/mintimer-shaimiev-steps-down-as-president-of-tatarstan-pub-40503|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 May 2019|title=Mintimer Shaimiev Steps Down as President of Tatarstan|last=Malashenko|first=Alexey|date=2010-01-25|website=Carnegie Moscow Center|language=en|access-date=2019-05-07}} and Murtaza Rakhimov of Bashkortostan,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/world/europe/14russia.html|title=Russian Regional Strongman to Retire|last=Barry|first=Ellen|date=2010-07-13|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-03-08|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=13 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180713102520/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/world/europe/14russia.html|url-status=live}} who were adamant on extending their bilateral agreements with Moscow, were dismissed, removing the last vestiges of regional autonomy from the 1990s. On 24 July 2017, Tatarstan's power-sharing agreement with Moscow expired, making it the last republic to lose its special status. After the agreement's termination, some commentators expressed the view that Russia ceased to be a federation. In 2022, Russia's ethnic republics suffered heavy losses in the invasion of Ukraine.{{cite news |last1=Latypova |first1=Leyla |title=Ethnic Minorities Hit Hardest By Russia's Mobilization, Activists Say |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/09/27/ethnic-minorities-hit-hardest-by-russias-mobilization-activists-say-a78879 |work=The Moscow Times |date=27 September 2022 |access-date=2 June 2023 |archive-date=28 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220928223759/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/09/27/ethnic-minorities-hit-hardest-by-russias-mobilization-activists-say-a78879 |url-status=live }}

File:RIAN archive 848112 Tatarstan President Mintimer Shaimiyev and Russian President Boris Yeltsin.jpg and Tatarstan President Mintimer Shaimiev shaking hands after signing an agreement to grant Tatarstan devolved powers in 1994. During the 1990s the republics had significant autonomy.]]

Republics differ from other federal subjects in that they have the right to establish their own official language,Article 68 of the Constitution of Russia have their own constitution, and have a national anthem. Other federal subjects, such as krais and oblasts, are not explicitly given this right. During Boris Yeltsin's presidency, the republics were the first subjects to be granted extensive power from the federal government, and were often given preferential treatment over other subjects, which has led to Russia being characterized as an "asymmetrical federation".{{Cite journal|last=Solnick|first=Steven|date=29 May 1996|title=Asymmetries in Russian Federation Bargaining|url=https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/nceeer/1996-810-08-Solnick.pdf|journal=The National Council for Soviet and East European Research|access-date=7 May 2019|archive-date=9 October 2022|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/nceeer/1996-810-08-Solnick.pdf|url-status=dead}}{{sfn|Boex|Martinez-Vazquez|2001|p=4}} The Treaty of Federation signed on 31 March 1992 stipulated that the republics were "sovereign states" that had expanded rights over natural resources, external trade, and internal budgets.{{Cite journal|last=Solnick|first=Steven|date=1996-05-30|title=Center-Periphery Bargaining in Russia: Assessing Prospects of Federal Stability|url=https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/nceeer/1996-810-08-2-Solnick.pdf|journal=The National Council for Soviet and East European Research|pages=4|access-date=7 May 2019|archive-date=6 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806153744/https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/nceeer/1996-810-08-2-Solnick.pdf|url-status=dead}} The signing of bilateral treaties with the republics would grant them additional powers, however, the amount of autonomy given differed by republic and was mainly based on their economic wealth rather than ethnic composition.{{Cite journal|last=Alexander|first=James|date=2004|title=Federal Reforms in Russia: Putin's Challenge to the Republics|url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/f04a/aa04ab1a484dc019cbbc913785070a44f377.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190509231747/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/f04a/aa04ab1a484dc019cbbc913785070a44f377.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2019-05-09|journal=Demokratizatsiya|volume=12|issue=2|pages=237|doi=10.3200/DEMO.12.2.233-263|s2cid=32677267|via=Semantic Scholar}} Sakha, for example, was granted more control over its resources, being able to keep most of its revenue and sell and receive its profits independently due to its vast diamond deposits.{{sfn|Clark|Kempton|2002|p=39–77}} North Ossetia on the other hand, a poorer republic, was mainly granted more control over defense and internal security due to its location in the restive North Caucasus.{{Cite journal|last=Drobizheva|first=Leokadia|date=April 1998|title=Power Sharing in the Russian Federation: the View from the Center and from the Republics|url=http://www.dartmouth.edu/~crn/crn_papers/Drobizheva2.pdf|journal=Preventing of Deadly Conflicts|pages=12|access-date=15 March 2020|archive-date=24 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324152823/http://www.dartmouth.edu/~crn/crn_papers/Drobizheva2.pdf|url-status=dead}} Tatarstan and Bashkortostan had the authority to establish their own foreign relations and conduct agreements with foreign governments.{{sfn|Sergunin|2016|p=185}} This has led to criticism from oblasts and krais. After the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis, the current constitution was adopted but the republics were no longer classified as "sovereign states" and all subjects of the federation were declared equal, though maintaining the validity of the bilateral agreements.{{sfn|Clark|Kempton|2002|p=39–77}}

In theory, the constitution of Russia was the ultimate authority over the republics, but the power-sharing treaties held greater weight in practice. Republics often created their own laws which contradicted the constitution.{{sfn|Sergunin|2016|p=185}} Yeltsin, however, made little effort to rein in renegade laws, preferring to turn a blind eye to violations in exchange for political loyalty.{{sfn|Wegren|2015|p=68}} Vladimir Putin's election on 26 March 2000 began a period of extensive reforms to centralize authority with the federal government and bring all laws in line with the constitution.{{Cite journal|last=Sharafutdinova|first=Gulnaz|date=2013|title=Gestalt Switch in Russian Federalism: The Decline in Regional Power under Putin|jstor=43664325|journal=Comparative Politics|volume=45|issue=3|pages=357–376|doi=10.5129/001041512X13815255435013}} His first act as president was the creation of federal districts on 18 May 2000, which were tasked with exerting federal control over the country's subjects.{{Cite news|url=https://jamestown.org/program/russian-federal-districts-as-instrument-of-moscows-internal-colonization/|title=Russian Federal Districts as Instrument of Moscow's Internal Colonization|last=Shtepa|first=Vadim|date=2018-07-16|website=Jamestown|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-07|archive-date=29 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129113852/https://jamestown.org/program/russian-federal-districts-as-instrument-of-moscows-internal-colonization/|url-status=live}} Putin later established the so-called "Kozak Commission" in June 2001 to examine the division of powers between the government and regions.{{sfn|Goode|2011|p=95}} The Commission's recommendations focused mainly on minimizing the basis of regional autonomy and transferring lucrative powers meant for the republics to the federal government.{{sfn|Heaney|2009|p=12}} Centralization of power would continue as the republics gradually lost more and more autonomy to the federal government, leading the European Parliament to conclude that Russia functions as a unitary state despite officially being a federation.{{Cite journal|last=Russel|first=Martin|date=2015-10-20|title=Russia's constitutional structure: Federal in form, unitary in function|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/IDAN/2015/569035/EPRS_IDA(2015)569035_EN.pdf|journal=European Parliamentary Research Service|access-date=8 May 2019|archive-date=19 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819122931/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/IDAN/2015/569035/EPRS_IDA(2015)569035_EN.pdf|url-status=live}} On 29 December 2010, President Dmitry Medvedev signed a law banning the leaders of the republics from holding the title of 'president'.{{Cite web|date=29 December 2010|title=Medvedev forbade the heads of subjects to be called presidents|url=https://www.newsru.com/russia/29dec2010/onlyone.html|access-date=25 March 2022|website=NewsRU|language=ru|archive-date=4 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404130049/https://www.newsru.com/russia/29dec2010/onlyone.html|url-status=live}} Tatarstan, however, resisted attempts to abolish its presidential post and remained the only republic to maintain the title.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-tatarstan-election-president-putin-minnikhanov/27244226.html|title=Tatarstan Vote Seen As Test For Russian Regional 'President'|date=2015-09-15|website=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|language=en|access-date=2019-05-07|archive-date=6 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806205409/https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-tatarstan-election-president-putin-minnikhanov/27244226.html|url-status=live}} Putin subsequently signed a law forcing Tatarstan to abolish its title by June 2022.{{Cite web|last=Voroshilov|first=Denis|date=21 December 2021|title=Putin signed a law banning the heads of regions from being called presidents|url=https://www.rbc.ru/politics/21/12/2021/61c1e67c9a794789c7df41bd|access-date=21 December 2021|website=RBC|language=ru|archive-date=25 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125201007/https://www.rbc.ru/politics/21/12/2021/61c1e67c9a794789c7df41bd/|url-status=live}} On 19 June 2018, a bill was passed that elevated the status of the Russian language at the expense of other official languages in the republics.{{Cite journal|last=Hauer|first=Neil|date=2018-08-01|title=Putin's Plan to Russify the Caucasus|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/russia-fsu/2018-08-01/putins-plan-russify-caucasus|journal=Foreign Affairs|access-date=2018-08-26|archive-date=24 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724115329/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/russia-fsu/2018-08-01/putins-plan-russify-caucasus|url-status=live}} The bill authorized the abolition of mandatory minority language classes in schools and for voluntary teaching to be reduced to two hours a week.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-language-bill-ethnic-republics-existential-threat/29306974.html|title=A Common Language: Russia's 'Ethnic' Republics See Language Bill As Existential Threat|last1=Coalson|first1=Robert|last2=Lyubimov|first2=Dmitry|date=2018-06-20|website=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|language=en|access-date=2018-06-21|last3=Alpaut|first3=Ramazan|archive-date=9 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109042443/https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-language-bill-ethnic-republics-existential-threat/29306974.html|url-status=live}}

File:Vladimir Putin 14 February 2008-18.jpg and Chechnya's leader Ramzan Kadyrov, 2008]]

Chechnya is the sole exception to Putin's centralization efforts. With the republic's reentry into Russia after the Second Chechen War, Chechnya was given broad autonomy in exchange for remaining within the country. At the end of the war, Putin bought the loyalty of local elites and granted Chechnya the right to manage its own affairs in dealing with separatists and governing itself outside of Russian control in a process called "Chechenization".{{Cite journal|last=Matejova|first=Miriam|date=2013|title=Russian "Chechenization" and the Prospects for a Lasting Peace in Chechnya|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326211199|journal=International Journal on World Peace|volume=30|pages=11–12|via=ResearchGate}} With the appointment of Ramzan Kadyrov by Putin to lead the republic in 2007, the independence of Chechnya has grown significantly. The Russian government gives Chechnya generous subsidies in exchange for loyalty and maintaining security in the region.{{Cite news|last=Schwirtz|first=Michael|date=8 October 2011|title=Russian Anger Grows Over Chechnya Subsidies|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/world/europe/chechnyas-costs-stir-anger-as-russia-approaches-elections.html|access-date=9 June 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=9 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111009055549/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/world/europe/chechnyas-costs-stir-anger-as-russia-approaches-elections.html|url-status=live}} Observers have noted Putin's reluctance or inability to exert control over Kadyrov's rule for fear it could trigger another conflict.{{Cite web|last=Bullough|first=Oliver|date=23 September 2015|title=Putin's closest ally – and his biggest liability|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/23/putins-closest-ally-and-his-biggest-liability|access-date=9 June 2021|website=The Guardian|language=en|issn=0261-3077}} Chechnya under Kadyrov operates outside of Russian law,{{Cite web|last=Arutunyan|first=Anna|date=25 April 2017|title=Why Putin won't get tough on Kadyrov|url=https://ecfr.eu/article/commentary_why_putin_wont_get_tough_on_kadyrov_7278/|access-date=9 June 2021|website=European Council on Foreign Relations|language=en-GB}} has its own independent security force,{{Cite web|last=Bowen|first=Andrew|date=15 June 2015|title=Kadyrovtsy: "Vladimir Putin's Combat Infantry" and Ramzan Kadyrov's Henchmen|url=https://www.interpretermag.com/kadyrovtsy-vladimir-putins-combat-infantry-and-ramzan-kadyrovs-henchmen/|access-date=9 June 2021|website=The Interpreter|archive-date=9 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609063656/https://www.interpretermag.com/kadyrovtsy-vladimir-putins-combat-infantry-and-ramzan-kadyrovs-henchmen/|url-status=live}} and conducts its own de facto foreign policy.{{Cite journal|last=Halbach|first=Uwe|date=2018|title=Chechnya's Status within the Russian Federation: Ramzan Kadyrov's Private State and Vladimir Putin's Federal "Power Vertical"|url=https://www.swp-berlin.org/fileadmin/contents/products/research_papers/2018RP02_hlb.pdf|journal=Foundation Science and Politics|pages=5|via=German Institute for International and Security Affairs}} This has led to Chechnya being characterized as a "state within a state".{{Cite journal|last=Zimnitskaya|first=Hanna|date=2012|title=A State within a State: the Case of Chechnya|url=https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=intlstudies_honors|journal=International Studies Honors Projects|via=Macalester College|access-date=9 June 2021|archive-date=6 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506225916/https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=intlstudies_honors|url-status=live}}

There are secessionist movements in most republics, but these are generally not very strong. The constitution makes no mention on whether a republic can legally secede from the Russian Federation. However, the Constitutional Court of Russia ruled after the unilateral secession of Chechnya in 1991 that the republics do not have the right to secede and are inalienable parts of the country.{{Cite web|url=https://meduza.io/en/feature/2016/09/21/how-separatists-are-prosecuted-in-russia|title=How 'separatists' are prosecuted in Russia: Independent lawyers on one of Russia's most controversial statutes|last=Guillory|first=Sean|date=2016-09-21|website=Meduza|access-date=2019-05-07|archive-date=8 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108112154/https://meduza.io/en/feature/2016/09/21/how-separatists-are-prosecuted-in-russia|url-status=live}} Despite this, some republican constitutions in the 1990s had articles giving them the right to become independent. This included Tuva, whose constitution had an article explicitly giving it the right to secede.{{sfn|Sergunin|2016|p=185}} However, following Putin's centralization reforms in the early 2000s, these articles were subsequently dropped. The Kabardino-Balkar Republic, for example, adopted a new constitution in 2001 which prevents the republic from existing independently of the Russian Federation.{{sfn|Bell|2003|p=78}} After Russia's annexation of Crimea, the State Duma adopted a law making it illegal to advocate for the secession of any region on 5 July 2014.{{Cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/russia-broadens-anti-incitement-law-to-include-separatism/|title=Russia broadens anti-incitement law to include separatism|date=2014-07-05|website=The Times of Israel|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-07|archive-date=11 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111172258/https://www.timesofisrael.com/russia-broadens-anti-incitement-law-to-include-separatism/|url-status=live}}

{{See also|Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation|Political status of Crimea|Russian annexation of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts}}

File:Annexation of Southern and Eastern Ukraine.svg by Russia, with a red line marking the area of actual control by Russia on 30 September 2022.]]

On 18 March 2014, Russia annexed the Autonomous Republic of Crimea of Ukraine after a referendum.{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSBREA1Q1E820140318|title=Putin signs Crimea treaty as Ukraine serviceman dies in attack|last1=Gutterman|first1=Steve|date=2014-03-18|work=Reuters|access-date=2019-05-08|last2=Polityuk|first2=Pavel|language=en|archive-date=29 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329012404/https://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/18/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSBREA1Q1E820140318|url-status=live}} The peninsula subsequently became the Republic of Crimea, the 22nd republic of Russia. However, Ukraine and most of the international community do not recognize Crimea's annexation{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/18/red-square-rally-vladimir-putin-crimea|title=Red Square rally hails Vladimir Putin after Crimea accession|last=Luhn|first=Alec|date=2014-03-18|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-05-08|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=30 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200830205121/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/18/red-square-rally-vladimir-putin-crimea|url-status=live}} and the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 68/262 declared the referendum to be invalid.{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-crisis-un-idUSBREA2Q1GA20140327|title=U.N. General Assembly declares Crimea secession vote invalid|last1=Charbonneau|first1=Louis|date=2014-03-27|work=Reuters|access-date=2019-05-08|last2=Donath|first2=Mirjam|language=en|archive-date=1 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001105549/http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/27/us-ukraine-crisis-un-idUSBREA2Q1GA20140327|url-status=live}}

On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine and conquered large swaths of southern and eastern Ukraine. As early as March leaders in both the Luhansk People's Republic{{Cite news|date=27 March 2022|title=Ukrainian rebel region Luhansk may vote to join Russia|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukrainian-rebel-region-may-hold-referendum-joining-russia-2022-03-27/|access-date=31 March 2022|archive-date=31 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331171117/https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukrainian-rebel-region-may-hold-referendum-joining-russia-2022-03-27/|url-status=live}} and Donetsk People's Republic{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-backed-donetsk-republic-will-consider-joining-russia-leader-2022-03-29/|title=Russia-backed Donetsk Republic may consider joining Russia – leader|first=Conor|last=Humphries|editor-first=Mark|editor-last=Trevelyan|newspaper=Reuters|date=29 March 2022|access-date=9 April 2022|archive-date=15 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220415102146/https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-backed-donetsk-republic-will-consider-joining-russia-leader-2022-03-29/|url-status=live}} expressed their wish to join Russia, originally once Russia captured all their claimed territory. However, after sudden Ukrainian gains in the east in September 2022, the republics organised a series of referendums on joining Russia, in which an overwhelming majority reportedly supported annexation.{{Cite web |last=Picheta|first=Rob|date=27 September 2022|title=Russian forces have staged illegal 'referendums' in Ukraine. What comes next?|url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/27/europe/ukraine-russia-referendum-explainer-intl/index.html|access-date=1 October 2022|website=CNN}} On 30 September 2022, Putin formally announced the annexation of the two republics and also of two Ukrainian oblasts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.{{Cite news|date=30 September 2022|title=Putin says Russia has 'four new regions' as he announces annexation of Ukrainian territory|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putin-says-russia-has-four-new-regions-he-announces-annexation-ukrainian-2022-09-30/|access-date=1 October 2022|archive-date=30 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220930191609/https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putin-says-russia-has-four-new-regions-he-announces-annexation-ukrainian-2022-09-30/|url-status=live}} The referendums were condemned internationally – the European Union and G7 rejected them as illegal{{Cite web|date=30 September 2022|title=West condemns Russia's 'illegal' annexation of Ukraine provinces|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/30/west-condemns-russia-illegal-annexation-of-ukrainian-provinces|access-date=1 October 2022|website=Al Jazeera|archive-date=30 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220930224336/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/30/west-condemns-russia-illegal-annexation-of-ukrainian-provinces|url-status=live}} while the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the annexations as a violation of the UN Charter.{{Cite web|date=29 September 2022|title=Ukraine: UN Secretary-General condemns Russia annexation plan|url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/09/1129047|access-date=1 October 2022|website=United Nations|archive-date=1 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001212940/https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/09/1129047|url-status=live}}

• For the individual flags of the republics, see Flags of the federal subjects of Russia.

{{Main|Proposed federal subjects of Russia}}

In response to the apparent federal inequality, in which the republics were given special privileges during the early years of Yeltsin's tenure at the expense of other subjects, Eduard Rossel, then governor of Sverdlovsk Oblast and advocate of equal rights for all subjects, attempted to transform his oblast into the Ural Republic on 1 July 1993 in order to receive the same benefits.{{sfn|Lussier|Orttung|Paretskaya|2000|p=523–524}} Initially supportive, Yeltsin later dissolved the republic and fired Rossel on 9 November 1993.{{sfn|Rubin|Snyder|2002|p=69}} The only other attempt to formally create a republic occurred in Vologda Oblast when authorities declared their wish to create a "Vologda Republic" on 14 May 1993. This declaration, however, was ignored by Moscow and eventually faded from public consciousness.{{sfn|Joshau|Shlapentokh|2007|p=105–106}} Other attempts to unilaterally create a republic never materialized. These included a "Pomor Republic" in Arkhangelsk Oblast,{{sfn|Joshau|Shlapentokh|2007|p=105–106}} a "Southern Urals Republic" in Chelyabinsk Oblast,{{sfn|Ross|2003|p=24–25}} a "Chukotka Republic" in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug,{{Cite web|url=http://vesma.today/news/post/398-25-let-nazad-chukotka-vyshla-iz-sostava-magadanskoy-oblasti|title=25 years ago Chukotka withdrew from the Magadan Region|date=29 September 2017|website=Vesma Today|access-date=31 October 2019|archive-date=6 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806173721/http://vesma.today/news/post/398-25-let-nazad-chukotka-vyshla-iz-sostava-magadanskoy-oblasti|url-status=live}} a "Yenisei Republic" in Irkutsk Oblast,{{sfn|Ross|2003|p=24–25}} a "Leningrad Republic" in Leningrad Oblast,{{sfn|Joshau|Shlapentokh|2007|p=105–106}} a "Nenets Republic" in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug,{{Cite web|url=http://old.nvinder.ru/archive/2005/nov/17/07.html|title=Nenets Republic – It Sounds Weird|last=Kolguyev|first=Georgy|date=2005-11-17|website=Nyaryana Vynder|language=ru|access-date=2019-05-10|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304040540/http://old.nvinder.ru/archive/2005/nov/17/07.html|url-status=live}} a "Siberian Republic" in Novosibirsk Oblast,{{sfn|Joshau|Shlapentokh|2007|p=105–106}} a "Primorsky Republic" in Primorsky Krai,{{sfn|Ross|2003|p=24–25}} a "Neva Republic" in the city of Saint Petersburg,{{sfn|Ross|2003|p=24–25}} and a republic consisting of eleven regions in western Russia centered around Oryol Oblast.{{sfn|Joshau|Shlapentokh|2007|p=105–106}}

Other attempts to create republics came in the form of splitting up already existing territories. After the Soviet Union's collapse, a proposal was put forth to split the Karachay-Cherkess Republic into multiple smaller republics. The idea was rejected by referendum on 28 March 1992.{{sfn|Roeder|2007|p=134}} A similar proposal occurred in the Republic of Mordovia to divide it to separate Erzyan and Mokshan homelands. The proposal was rejected in 1995.{{Cite book|title=The Finno-Ugric Republics and the Russian State|last=Taagepera|first=Rein|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|isbn=978-0-415-91977-7|location=New York|quote=A proposal to divide Mordovia into Erzyan and Mokshan parts was rejected, 628-34 (Mokshin 1995).}}

File:Geopolitics South Russia2.png as of 2021]]

After the brief 2008 Russo-Georgian War, Russia secured the de facto independence of Abkhazia from Georgia and promptly recognized it. Georgian officials have expressed worry that Russia will seek to absorb the region. On 25 November 2014, Abkhazia signed a treaty integrating its economy and military with Russia,{{Cite news|last=Herszenhorn|first=David|date=25 November 2014|title=Pact Tightens Russian Ties With Abkhazia|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/25/world/europe/pact-tightens-russian-ties-with-abkhazia.html|access-date=30 March 2022|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=12 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812224016/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/25/world/europe/pact-tightens-russian-ties-with-abkhazia.html|url-status=live}} which Georgia described as a step to "toward de facto annexation".{{Cite web|last=Harding|first=Luke|date=25 November 2014|title=Georgia angered by Russia-Abkhazia military agreement|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/25/georgia-russia-abkhazia-military-agreement-putin|access-date=30 March 2022|website=The Guardian|archive-date=20 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420155420/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/25/georgia-russia-abkhazia-military-agreement-putin|url-status=live}} However, the proposal to join Russia has little to no support among Abkhazia's political elite or the general public,{{Cite web|date=30 March 2022|title=South Ossetia to hold referendum to join Russia in future – report|url=https://www.jpost.com/international/article-702755|access-date=30 March 2022|website=The Jerusalem Post|archive-date=30 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220330192941/https://www.jpost.com/international/article-702755|url-status=live}} with many of the former expressing their view that Abkhazia is different situationally from nearby South Ossetia.{{Cite web|last=Waal|first=Thomas de|date=16 July 2019|title=Abkhazia and the Danger of 'Ossetianization'|url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/07/16/abkhazia-and-the-danger-of-ossetianization-a66437|access-date=31 March 2022|website=The Moscow Times|archive-date=31 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331171112/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/07/16/abkhazia-and-the-danger-of-ossetianization-a66437|url-status=live}} Despite this, Abkhazia relies entirely on Russia for financial support and much of its state structure is highly integrated with Russia; it uses the Russian ruble, its foreign policy is coordinated with Russia, and a majority of its citizens have Russian passports.{{Cite web|last=Tkemaladze|first=Tamar|date=14 February 2021|title=Abkhazia Is Not Crimea but Everything Is Set to Become It|url=https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2021/02/14/abkhazia-is-not-crimea-but-everything-is-set-to-become-it/|access-date=31 March 2022|website=Modern Diplomacy|archive-date=28 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128003159/https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2021/02/14/abkhazia-is-not-crimea-but-everything-is-set-to-become-it/|url-status=live}} On 12 November 2020, Abkhazia and Russia signed a new integration agreement expanding on their previous one from 2014, which Georgia condemned as another step toward annexation.{{Cite web|date=25 November 2020|title=Georgia condemns adoption of program on creation of common socio-economic space between Russia, occupied Abkhazia|url=https://agenda.ge/en/news/2020/3710|access-date=31 March 2022|website=Agenda}} The new agreement envisioned further harmonization of Abkhazia with Russian law and was criticized within the region for risking the loss of Abkhazia's sovereignty, which the government denied.{{Cite web|last=Avdaliani|first=Emil|date=18 February 2021|title=A Fateful Step Towards Annexation|url=https://cepa.org/a-fateful-step-towards-annexation/|access-date=2022-03-31|website=Center for European Policy Analysis|archive-date=24 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524151957/https://cepa.org/a-fateful-step-towards-annexation/|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Proposed Russian annexation of South Ossetia}}

After the Soviet Union's collapse South Ossetia sought to break away from Georgia and become independent. On 19 January 1992 a referendum was held. Ostensibly, 99.9% of voters approved independence, but the results were not recognized internationally.{{Cite web|title=Civil.Ge | S.Ossetia Sets Repeat Independence Referendum|url=https://old.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=13522|access-date=2023-02-18|website=old.civil.ge|archive-date=14 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014105252/http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=13522|url-status=live}}{{cite news |title=South Ossetians vote for independence |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/nov/13/russia.georgia |work=The Guardian |agency=AFP |date=13 November 2006}} A second question asking for unification with Russia also ostensibly passed at about 99.9%.{{sfn|Sotiriou|2019|p=100}} Similar to Abkhazia, South Ossetia had its independence secured and recognized by Russia in 2008. However, unlike Abkhazia, officials in both Russia and South Ossetia have repeatedly expressed their wish to see South Ossetia join Russia.{{cite news|first=Tony|last=Halpin|title=Kremlin announces that South Ossetia will join 'one united Russian state'|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4635843.ece|work=The Times|date=30 August 2008|access-date=30 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080903215639/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4635843.ece |archive-date=3 September 2008}} An opinion poll conducted in 2010 showed that over 80% of people supported integration with Russia.{{Cite news|last1=Toal|first1=Gerard|last2=O'Loughlin|first2=John|date=20 March 2014|title=How people in South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Transnistria feel about annexation by Russia|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2014/03/20/how-people-in-south-ossetia-abkhazia-and-transnistria-feel-about-annexation-by-russia/|access-date=30 March 2022}} On 18 March 2015 South Ossetia signed a treaty integrating the region's economy and military with Russia, identical to the one signed by Abkhazia.{{Cite web|date=18 March 2015|title=Putin signs treaty integrating South Ossetia into Russia|url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/3/18/putin-signs-treaty-integrating-south-ossetia-into-russia.html|access-date=30 March 2022|website=Al Jazeera America|archive-date=31 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331171458/http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/3/18/putin-signs-treaty-integrating-south-ossetia-into-russia.html|url-status=live}} The treaty was condemned by Georgia as an "actual annexation" of the region.{{cite news|url=http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=28143|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402124916/http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=28143|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 April 2015|agency=Civil Georgia|title=Moscow, Tskhinvali Sign 'Integration Treaty'|date=18 March 2015|access-date=30 March 2022}} Later that year South Ossetian president Leonid Tibilov said he was preparing a referendum to join Russia.{{Cite web|date=29 December 2015|title=Breakaway Tskhinvali proposes name change New name emphasizes South Ossetia as part of Russia|url=https://agenda.ge/en/news/2015/2958|access-date=30 March 2022|website=Agenda|archive-date=6 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006033013/https://agenda.ge/en/news/2015/2958|url-status=live}} However, such a referendum never took place due to Russia's refusal to endorse the proposal.{{Cite web|last=Fuller|first=Liz|date=8 February 2017|title=South Ossetia Referendum On Name Change Steers Clear Of Thornier Unification Issue|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/caucasus-report-south-ossetia-referendum-name-change/28298590.html|access-date=30 March 2022|website=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|archive-date=14 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170914173029/https://www.rferl.org/a/caucasus-report-south-ossetia-referendum-name-change/28298590.html|url-status=live}} Instead a referendum was held on 9 April 2017 to change South Ossetia's official name to "Republic of South Ossetia–The State of Alania" to mirror its northern counterpart North Ossetia, officially the "Republic of North Ossetia–Alania", implying future unification.{{Cite web|last=Tamkin|first=Emily|date=10 April 2017|title=An Occupied Region's Referendum Brings Georgia New Iteration of Old Challenges|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/04/10/a-breakaway-regions-referendum-brings-georgia-new-iteration-of-old-challenges/|url-access=subscription|access-date=30 March 2022|website=Foreign Policy|archive-date=21 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221021185828/https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/04/10/a-breakaway-regions-referendum-brings-georgia-new-iteration-of-old-challenges/|url-status=live}}

On 30 March 2022 the government of South Ossetia announced it would revive attempts to hold a referendum on joining Russia.{{Cite news|date=30 March 2022|title=Breakaway Georgian territory of South Ossetia plans to join Russia|work=The Globe and Mail|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-breakaway-georgian-territory-of-south-ossetia-plans-to-join-russia/|access-date=30 March 2022}} Officials expressed hope of finishing the legal process to hold the referendum by April 10, however, it is unknown whether Russia will again reject the proposal or not. On 13 May 2022 outgoing president Anatoly Bibilov signed a decree authorizing a referendum on annexation by July 17.{{Cite web|date=13 May 2022|title=Breakaway region of Georgia to hold referendum on joining Russia|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/13/breakaway-region-of-georgia-to-hold-referendum-on-joining-russia|access-date=13 May 2022|website=The Guardian|archive-date=27 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027104511/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/13/breakaway-region-of-georgia-to-hold-referendum-on-joining-russia|url-status=live}} However, Alan Gagloyev, who defeated Bibilov in an election, expressed skepticism, saying that while he does not oppose the referendum, he believes there should first be a "signal" from Russia.{{Cite web|last1=Fabbro|first1=Robin|last2=Shoshiashvili|first2=Tata|date=13 May 2022|title=South Ossetia to hold Russian annexation referendum on 17 July|url=https://oc-media.org/south-ossetia-to-hold-russian-annexation-referendum-on-17-july/|access-date=13 May 2022|website=OC Media|archive-date=13 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220513192650/https://oc-media.org/south-ossetia-to-hold-russian-annexation-referendum-on-17-july/|url-status=live}} Gagloyev promptly scrapped the referendum pending talks with Russia on integration.{{Cite web|date=31 May 2022|title=South Ossetia shelves plan for referendum to join Russia|url=https://www.dw.com/en/south-ossetia-shelves-plan-for-referendum-to-join-russia/a-61982164|access-date=21 June 2022|website=DW|archive-date=21 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220621025203/https://www.dw.com/en/south-ossetia-shelves-plan-for-referendum-to-join-russia/a-61982164|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Proposed Russian annexation of Transnistria}}

File:Flag of Transnistria Republic.jpg, Transnistria, with Soviet symbolism. Nostalgia for the Soviet Union and Russian influence remain common in Transnistria, which has made repeated requests to join Russia.]]

Transnistria, a breakaway region of Moldova, had long sought to rejoin Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. After proclaiming independence and fighting a war against Moldova with the help of Russia in 1992, the region has remained under Russian occupation. Transnistria made multiple appeals to integrate with Russia, which the latter has consistently ignored. In a 2006 referendum an overwhelming majority of people voted in favor of its accession to Russia, though these results could not be independently confirmed.{{Cite web|date=18 September 2006|title=Trans-Dniester Votes for Independence and Russian Accession|url=https://www.dw.com/en/trans-dniester-votes-for-independence-and-russian-accession/a-2177335|access-date=31 March 2022|website=DW|archive-date=31 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331170942/https://www.dw.com/en/trans-dniester-votes-for-independence-and-russian-accession/a-2177335|url-status=live}} After Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, Transnistria appealed to Russia to join it.{{Cite news|date=18 March 2014|title=Moldova's Trans-Dniester region pleads to join Russia|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26627236|access-date=31 March 2022|archive-date=4 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220104194524/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26627236|url-status=live}} There is still some hope inside Transnistria for Russia to annex the region.{{cite news|url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2014-03-24/wheres-transnistria-and-why-do-people-there-hope-russia-will-annex-them-next|title=Where's Transnistria? And why do people there hope Russia will annex them next?|first=Nina|last=Porzucki|newspaper=Public Radio International|date=24 March 2014|access-date=6 June 2021|archive-date=6 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606115803/https://www.pri.org/stories/2014-03-24/wheres-transnistria-and-why-do-people-there-hope-russia-will-annex-them-next|url-status=live}} Despite ignoring Transnistria's appeals for accession, the region enjoys Russian support and is highly dependent on it. Over 200,000 Transnistrian citizens own a Russian passport{{Cite web|last=Kolstø|first=Pål|date=11 June 2014|title=Transnistria is a bridge too far for Russia|url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/transnistria-is-bridge-too-far-for-russia/|access-date=31 March 2022|website=Open Democracy|archive-date=6 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606115804/https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/transnistria-is-bridge-too-far-for-russia/|url-status=live}} and many prefer to leave the region and work in Russia.{{Cite web|last=Lungu|first=Karina|date=1 September 2016|title=Transnistria: From entropy to exodus|url=https://ecfr.eu/article/essay_transnistria_from_entropy_to_exodus/|access-date=31 March 2022|website=European Council on Foreign Relations|archive-date=29 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220429043423/https://ecfr.eu/article/essay_transnistria_from_entropy_to_exodus/|url-status=live}} Russia provides gas at bargain prices, pays the pensions of its residents, and allocates funds to build infrastructure.{{Cite web|last=Mondello|first=Mauro|date=18 April 2022|title=Near Ukraine, a Breakaway Russian Republic Plows On|url=https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/near-ukraine-a-breakaway-russian-republic-plows-on/|access-date=24 April 2022|website=New Lines Magazine|archive-date=24 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424152252/https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/near-ukraine-a-breakaway-russian-republic-plows-on/|url-status=live}} A Russian military garrison operates in Transnistria ostensibly as a peacekeeping force.{{Cite web|last=Coakley|first=Amanda|date=11 February 2022|title=Ukraine crisis 'very sensitive' for Russia-backed breakaway state|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/11/transnistria-ukraine-crisis|access-date=31 March 2022|website=Al Jazeera|archive-date=24 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220224140357/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/11/transnistria-ukraine-crisis|url-status=live}} Moldova for its part rejects any attempt by Transnistria to secede and join Russia and insists on the withdrawal of all Russian troops from the region.{{Cite web|title=Transnistria: The breakaway region torn between Moldova, Russia and the EU|url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/moldova-russia-transnistria-breakaway-region-torn|access-date=2022-04-01|website=Middle East Eye|language=en|archive-date=10 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220410012031/https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/moldova-russia-transnistria-breakaway-region-torn|url-status=live}} With Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 a Russian general said they planned to create a land bridge connecting to Transnistria.{{Cite web|last=Cole|first=Brendan|date=22 April 2022|title=Russia targets Moldova invasion next as they seek land corridor via Ukraine|url=https://www.newsweek.com/russia-ukraine-moldova-transnistria-war-minnekayev-1700007|access-date=22 April 2022|website=Newsweek}} The region has also suffered significant trade losses due to the invasion of Ukraine and has become more reliant on trade with the European Union.

• Oblasts of Russia
• Krais of Russia
• Autonomous okrugs of Russia
• Federal cities of Russia
• Jewish Autonomous Oblast

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

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{{Commons category-inline|Republics of Russia}}

{{Subdivisions of Russia}}

{{Types of administrative country subdivision}}

Category:Federal subjects of Russia

Category:Autonomous republics

Category:Autonomous regions