Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics in the context of "Presidium of the Supreme Soviet"

Several different governments controlled the Crimean Peninsula during the period of the Soviet Union, from the 1920s to 1991. The government of Crimea from 1921 to 1936 was the Crimean Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic, which was an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (SFSR); the name was altered slightly to the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic from 1936 to 1945.

The Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, shortened to Moldavian ASSR, was an autonomous republic of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic between 12 October 1924 and 2 August 1940, encompassing the modern territory of Transnistria (today de jure in Moldova, but de facto functioning as an independent state; see Transnistria conflict) as well as much of the present-day Podilsk Raion of Ukraine. It was an artificial political creation inspired by the Bolshevik nationalities policy in the context of the loss of larger Bessarabia to Romania in April 1918. In such a manner, the Bolshevik leadership tried to radicalize pro-Soviet feelings in Bessarabia with the goal of setting up favorable conditions for the creation of a geopolitical "place d'armes" (bridgehead), in an attempt to execute a breakthrough in the direction of the Balkans by projecting influence upon Romanian Bessarabia, which would eventually be occupied and annexed in 1940 after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.
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The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic or Moldavian SSR (Romanian: Republica Sovietică Socialistă Moldovenească, Moldovan Cyrillic: Република Советикэ Сочиалистэ Молдовеняскэ), also known as the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic, Moldovan SSR, Soviet Moldavia, Soviet Moldova, or simply Moldavia or Moldova, was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union that existed from 1940 to 1991. The republic was formed on 2 August 1940 from parts of Bessarabia, a region annexed from Romania on 28 June of that year, and parts of the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, an autonomous Soviet republic within the Ukrainian SSR.

From the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic Supreme Soviet's adoption of the declaration of sovereignty on 23 June 1990 to 23 May 1991, the country was internationally recognized as the Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova. Furthermore, from 23 May 1991 until the declaration of independence on 27 August 1991, it was renamed to the Republic of Moldova while remaining a constituent republic of the USSR. Its independence was officially recognized by the international community on 26 December of that year when the USSR was dissolved.

The republics are one type of federal subject of the Russian Federation. Twenty-one republics are internationally recognized as part of Russia; another is under its de facto control. The original republics were created as nation states for ethnic minorities. The indigenous ethnicity that gives its name to the republic is called the titular nationality. However, due to centuries of Russian migration, a titular nationality may not be a majority of its republic's population. By 2017, the autonomous status of all republics was formally abolished, making the republics politically equivalent to the other federal subjects of Russia.

Formed in the early 20th century by Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks after the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917, republics were intended to be nominally independent regions of Soviet Russia with the right to self-determination. Lenin's conciliatory stance towards Russia's minorities made them allies in the Russian Civil War and with the creation of the Soviet Union in 1922 the regions became autonomous republics, albeit subordinate to a union republic. While officially autonomous, the autonomies of these administrative units varied throughout the history of the Soviet Union but largely remained under the control of the central government. The 1980s saw an increase in the demand of autonomy as the Soviet Union began large scale reforms of its centralized system. In 1990, most of the autonomous republics declared their sovereignty. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and Russia became independent. The current republics were established with the signing of the Federation Treaty in 1992, which gave them substantial rights and autonomy.

An autonomous republic is a type of administrative division similar to a province or state. A significant number of autonomous republics can be found within the successor states of the Soviet Union, but the majority are located within Russia. Many of these republics were established during the Soviet period as Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics, or ASSRs.

Autonomous okrugs, (Russian: автономный округ, romanized: avtonomnyy okrug) which are also referred to as "autonomous districts" or "autonomous areas" are a type of federal subject of the Russian Federation and simultaneously an administrative division type of some federal subjects. As of 2024, Russia has four autonomous okrugs of its 83 federal subjects. The Chukotka Autonomous Okrug is the only okrug which is not subordinate to an oblast. The Nenets Autonomous Okrug is a part of Arkhangelsk Oblast, the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug are parts of Tyumen Oblast.

According to the Constitution of the Soviet Union, in case of a union republic voting on leaving the Soviet Union, autonomous republics, autonomous oblasts, and autonomous okrugs had the right, by means of a referendum, to independently resolve whether they will stay in the USSR or leave with the seceding union republic, as well as to raise the issue of their state-legal status.