As a literal translation, the word okruha means vicinity or neighborhood (sharing a root with the words "circle" and "around", a close equivalent is the German term Bezirk).

This level of subdivision is roughly equivalent to that of a county, parish, or borough.

On August 5, 1930, the "News of Central Executive Committee of Ukraine"[5] reported that on August 3, 1930, there was a session of the Central Executive Committee of Ukraine Presidium chaired by Grigory Petrovsky where a report by Mykola Vasylenko on the liquidation of the system of okruhas was discussed.

In the adopted resolution, the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of Ukraine generally approved and endorsed the submitted projects from the government commission.

The Presidium requested that the commission and the Council of Commissars of the Ukrainian SSR, on the basis of the approved principles, develop a draft resolution on the liquidation of okruhas and the structure of authorities, both local and central, in connection with the transition to the rayon system.