Pseudopedia/Ephemeral states in Southern and Eastern Ukraine

Under Russian constitutional law, the admission of a foreign state or part thereof into the Russian Federation as a new subject requires a mutual agreement with the foreign state. However, in the case of Ukraine, which would refuse to consent to Russia annexing any of its oblasts, Russia recognized Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporozhye, and Kherson as independent states. This allowed these territories to consent to admission into the Russian Federation, thereby circumventing the requirement of mutual agreement with Ukraine.

The Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol declared themselves the independent Republic of Crimea on 17 March 2014, weeks after little green men, widely believed to be Russian soldiers, occupied the two entities. The Republic was instantly recognised by Russia and formally annexed a day later. The Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic had been de facto independent states since the beginning of the War in Donbas in 2014 and were recognised by Russia as such on 21 February 2022, three days prior to the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine. In late September, Russian-occupied Donetsk People's Republic, Luhansk People's Republic, Zaporozhye military-civilian administration and Kherson military-civilian administration all voted in sham referendums to join Russia. As a result, Zaporozhye and Kherson were recognised as independent states for a few hours before Russia formally annexed all four oblasts.

Crimea, Zaporozhye and Kherson
Due to their short and controversial existence, Russia was the only UN member state to recognise the three ephemeral states as sovereign states prior to its annexation.

Donetsk and Luhansk
The Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics had an eight-year long existence as de facto independent states resulting in more recognition. Russia, Syria and North Korea were the UN member states to recognise the republics as independent countries, all during 2022. The Russian-backed separatists in Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, recognised the two republics as independent in 2014 and 2022 respectively. The UN member states of Belarus, the Central African Republic, Nicaragua, Sudan, Venezuela, and the non-UN member state of Artsakh supported the recognition but did not recognise them as independent states themselves.