@UNC Page Last Updated: Today | Contact for this Page: Gretchen Kershner “It is important to emphasize that Russia possesses significantly — I want to stress this — significantly larger resources of this kind than Ukraine Our historical territories that have become part of the Russian Federation again also hold certain reserves We are ready to work there with international partners President Vladimir Putin questioned Ukraine’s reserves of valuable minerals can offer access to significantly larger deposits of rare earth minerals including in the four regions of Ukraine — Donetsk Putin claimed the four Ukrainian territories “historically” belonged to the Russian Federation and Moscow simply reclaimed them as its own Putin’s reference to “historic” ownership of Ukrainian territories currently under Russian occupation dates to the Soviet Union or U.S.S.R. a socialist nation composed of “socialist republics,” which among others included the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic drew the borders of those republics following the Russian 1917 socialist revolution All four regions described by Putin were part of the independent state of Ukraine (1918-1920) followed by the Ukrainian Soviet Republic (1920-1991) and Ukraine from 1991 until the 2014 Russian invasion The Russian Federation was established in 1991 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union Russia violated numerous international agreements and treaties Moscow ratified recognizing Ukraine’s borders and guaranteeing its territorial integrity The 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration: Affirmed the independence and borders of former Soviet republics In exchange for Ukraine giving up its nuclear arsenal Moscow reaffirmed commitment to respecting sovereignty and existing borders and pledged not to use force or threaten Ukraine and Partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation: Ensured the inviolability of borders The 2003 Ukraine-Russia Border Treaty: Delineated the land border The 2010 Kharkiv Pact: Extended Russia’s lease of a Navy base in Sevastopol and confirmed the status of Crimea as Ukrainian territory Russia's actions led to global condemnation and sanctions with the international community refusing to recognize the annexation Ukraine continues to seek security guarantees in the face of Russia's ongoing aggression Conclusion: Ukrainian regions that Russia declared as its own in 2022 were never part of the Russian Federation Russia’s actions violate international law and treaties and these territories remain part of Ukraine in the eyes of international law .css-fpbe1c .e6h2z500{margin-top:var(--mb-spacing-sm);}.css-1mbblzz{color:var(--header-headline-color Now he lives alone in a forest.css-c1mika{color:var(--header-rubric-color 1fr));}}@media (min-width: 52.125rem){.css-1uuz26i{grid-template:auto/repeat(9 1fr));}}@media (min-width: 89rem){.css-1uuz26i{grid-template:auto/repeat(12 he was prosecuted and imprisoned by the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) on charges that included spying He knew that he could not stay in the DNR if he ever got out of prison given his record of pro-Ukrainian agitation he vowed that he would drift on the wind like a seed and settle wherever it carried him Ousting Assad may turn out to have been easier than rebuilding the country A lawyer struggles with their conscience. New colleagues are watching  In the Central African Republic locals are learning Russian while mercenaries knock back lager The Inuit on Little Diomede are watched over by Russian soldiers. But that’s not their biggest problem in these icy badlands Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article but in Soviet times its industrial base was considerably widened It became a centre for engineering industries and for the production of building materials The criminal army of the Russian Federation transferred to the occupied territories of the Donetsk region three recently created regiments as part of the 116th separate brigade of Russia's National Guard to strengthen control over the occupied territories According to analysts from the Institute for the Study of War regarding Ukrainian military analyst Kostyantyn Mashovets the 116th separate Brigade of Russia’s National Guard was stationed in Chystiakove the newly created regiments of the 116th Brigade are located in the following: The 900th Special Forces Regiment is stationed in the village of Melekine (22 km southwest of Mariupol); The 901st Special Forces Regiment was stationed in the city of Snizhne (80 km east of Donetsk); The 902nd Special Forces Regiment is located seven kilometres north of Chystiakove Mashovets notes that the permanent assignment of the Brigade is to perform functions to stabilize the situation in the occupied territories of Ukraine It is noted that the formation of the new Brigade began in September of this year analysts learned that the Brigade received the first T-80BV tank which was used by the mercenaries of the "Wagner Group" during the attempted mutiny of their now-deceased leader The ISW noted that the short-term transfer of units indicates the Kremlin's desire to strengthen control over the occupied territories A military analyst suggested that the command of Russia's National Guard probably transferred up to 6,000 soldiers to the occupied Ukrainian territories as part of the deployment of the 116th Special Brigade the personnel of Russia's National Guard in the occupied territories of Ukraine includes up to 34,300 military personnel ISW analysts conclude that the Kremlin's recent attempts to allow the Rosguard to recruit volunteers as well as the permission to transfer heavy military equipment to the Rosguard units indicate the desire of the Kremlin regime to create a separate military force in the occupied territories Russia is trying to expand the forces of the Russian Guard to create a separate military occupation force Moscow is likely trying to attract and deploy military occupation forces to further impede Ukraine's counteroffensive efforts establish permanent control over occupied territories and suppress guerrilla activity without committing front-line troops to an indefinite period of occupation The most important from online.ua in your mail By staying online, you consent to the use of cookies files which help us make your stay here even better  Based on your browser and language settings you might prefer the English version of our website Ukrainian military observer Kostyantyn Mashovets confirmed that the Russian command has deployed the 116th Special Forces Brigade to Chystyakove As for the three newly formed units of the brigade Mashovets noted that the brigade will perform "stabilization functions" in the occupied territory of Ukraine on a "permanent basis." Russian local media reported that in early September 2023 Rosgvardia (Russian Guard) began forming the 116th Special Forces Brigade to serve in the temporarily occupied areas of the Donetsk region ISW experts noticed that this brigade received a Russian T-80BV tank which was used by the Wagner group during the armed uprising in June 2023 ISW is convinced that the short timeframe and locations of the new Russian Guard regiments indicate that the Kremlin is actively trying to use these forces to strengthen Russia's control over the occupied rear Mashovets also said that the Russian Guard may have deployed up to 6,000 servicemen from Russia to the temporarily occupied Ukraine as part of the deployment of the 116th Special Forces Brigade the number of Russian Guard personnel in the occupied territories of Ukraine has increased to 34.3 thousand It is noted that although the Institute for the Study of War is not able to independently verify this information these facts are confirmed by recent attempts by the Russian Federation to legalize the Russian Guard's access to the recruitment of volunteers the Kremlin's permission to transfer heavy military equipment to the Russian Guard and the basing of the 116th Special Forces Brigade in the occupied Donetsk region "Russia is attempting to expand Rosgvardia forces to establish a separate military occupation force Moscow is likely trying to recruit and deploy military occupation forces to further impede Ukraine’s counteroffensive efforts establish permanent control over occupied areas and suppress partisan activity without fixing frontline troops in occupation duty indefinitely," states the ISW report Invaders strengthening control in the occupied territories The Russian military is increasing the number of special forces in the occupied territories of the Kherson region to search for partisans the Russian private military company Wagner announced its official transfer to the subordination of the Russian Guard In addition, the Russians are hiding mobilization under the guise of "volunteer battalions" (dobrobats) and using them to propagandize the war.