Administrative divisions of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic

Itself part of the highly centralized Soviet Union, sub-national divisions in the Ukrainian SSR were subordinate to higher executive authorities and derived their power from them.

Throughout the Ukrainian SSR's history, other national subdivisions were established in the republic, including guberniyas and okrugs, before finally being reorganized into their present structure as oblasts.

At the time of the Ukrainian SSR's independence from the Soviet Union, the country was composed of 25 oblasts (provinces) and two cities with special status, Kiev, the capital, and Sevastopol, respectively.

Prior to the First World War, most of the Ukrainian lands were integrated into the Imperial Russian structure of guberniyas (Governorate) which in turn split into uezds and volosts.

Until the Riga Peace Treaty with Poland on 18 March 1921 the Ukrainian SSR had the governmental administrative division of Imperial Russia and consisted of ten guberniyas.

Thus, six new oblasts were established in Western Ukraine on 4 December 1939: In late June 1940 the Soviet Union annexed Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina from the Kingdom of Romania.

Thus, in the prelude of Soviet Union's entry to World War II, Ukraine gained eight new Oblasts, which combined with the fifteen existing previously, brought a total to twenty three.

To facilitate the Crimean Offensive, on 30 March 1944, a new, 24th oblast was created in Taurida: After the war ended, the Carpathian Ruthenia province of Czechoslovakia was passed to the USSR and on 21 January 1946, the territory was annexed to Ukraine as the During the post-war rebuilding the administrative division remained stable.

However, arguably the most significant change in 1954 was the transfer of Crimea from the Russian SFSR, and thus Ukraine gained the After the political defeat of the so-called Anti-Party Group, consisting of famous politicians such as Vyacheslav Molotov and Lazar Kaganovich, a nationwide renaming campaign was undertaken.

To ensure further disturbances of such manner be avoided, in early 1958 Moscow passed a decree not to name any object or locale in honour of a living person, and on 5 March 1958, the city of Voroshylovhrad (bearing the name of its native, Kliment Voroshilov) was renamed to its historical name of Luhansk as was the oblast.

Drohobych Oblast was continuously reduced in size, ceding three raions to the Polish Committee of National Liberation in autumn 1944 (including the city of Peremyshl).

The latter would be the last major change of internal borders of Ukraine's administrative divisions until present day, the oblast count would stay stable at twenty five up to the republic's independence in 1991.