Southwestern Krai in the context of Volhynian Governorate

The Russian Empire at various times included the subdivisions known as krais, either formally or informally. Some of these krais were:

• Caucasus Krai
• Turkestan Krai
• Privislinsky Krai
• Uriankhaisky Krai
• Western Krai
  • Northwestern Krai
  • Southwestern Krai

Volhynia Governorate, also known as Volyn Governorate, was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Southwestern Krai of the Russian Empire, established in the historical region of Volhynia. It consisted of an area of 71,736 square kilometres (27,697 sq mi) and a population of 2,989,482 inhabitants. The governorate bordered Grodno and Minsk Governorates to the north, Kiev Governorate to the east, Podolia Governorate to the south, Lublin and Siedlce Governorates, and after 1912, Kholm Governorate and Austria to the west. Its capital was in Novograd-Volynsky until 1804, and then Zhitomir. It corresponded to most of modern-day Volyn, Rivne and Zhytomyr Oblasts of Ukraine and some parts of Brest and Gomel Regions of Belarus.

It was created at the end of 1796 after the Third Partition of Poland from the territory of the short-lived Volhynian Vice-royalty and Wołyń Voivodeship. After the Peace of Riga, part of the governorate became the new Wołyń Voivodeship in the Second Polish Republic, while the other part stayed as a part of the Ukrainian SSR until 1925 when it was abolished on resolution of the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee and Counsel of People's Commissars.

Podolia Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Southwestern Krai of the Russian Empire. It bordered Volhynian Governorate to the north, Kiev Governorate to the east, Kherson Governorate to the southeast, Bessarabia Governorate to the south, and Austria to the west. Its administrative centre was Kamenets-Podolsky (Kamianets-Podilskyi), which later moved to Vinnitsa (Vinnytsia). The governorate covered areas of Ukraine's partially Khmelnytskyi and most of Vinnytsia Oblasts, along with the fractionally recognised state of Transnistria.

Northwestern Krai (Russian: Северо-Западный край) was a krai of the Russian Empire (unofficial subdivision) in the territories of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania (present-day Belarus and Lithuania). The administrative center was in Vilna (now Vilnius). Northwestern Krai together with the Southwestern Krai, which was composed of the territories formerly belonging to the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland (now present-day Ukraine), formed the Western Krai.

It included six Governorates: