Встановлення та юридичне оформлення кордонів Української РСР з сусідами – встановлення та часткові уточнення кордонів з РСФРР в 1920-х рр.

Abstract

This article is the first part of a series of 5 articles dedicated to the establishment of the borders of the Ukrainian SSR (and its legal continuation under the Union Constitution of 5 December 1936 of the Ukrainian SSR) with the neighbouring Soviet republics – the RSFSR, the Belorussian SSR (BSSR) and the Moldavian ASSR (Moldavian Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic; since 1936 – the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic) and the latter’s legal successor – the Moldavian SSR. The author points out that the borders of the Ukrainian SSR and the RSFSR (the then names of the republics) in the 1920s were established not on the basis of the ethnographic principle, but for reasons of economic expediency, with priority consideration of Moscow’s interests. For example, the city of Sudzha, which at one time was proclaimed by the Bolsheviks as one of the capitals of “Soviet Ukraine”, became part of the RSFSR. The Russian side emphasised in every possible way that certain disputed regions were important for providing the RSFSR with bread, coal and labour, not stopping short of unilateral actions without the consent of the Ukrainian side and acts of sabotage during the transfer of certain disputed territories to the Ukrainian SSR. The position of the Ukrainians was weakened by the “international” leadership of the republic, driven by the Communist Party’s discipline. At the same time, the existing border between independent Ukraine and the Russian Federation should not be revised, and Ukraine does not claim any Russian territories, including Kursk, as stated in a special statement by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry in August 2024.