The Kremlin suggested on Tuesday that residents in Ukraine’s southern Odesa and Mykolaiv regions may want closer ties with Russia, Reuters reports. 

The claim was made without evidence and underscores Moscow’s continuing ambiguity about its territorial aims in the war.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “many” in the two regions would “like to link their fate to Russia,” but added they were afraid to say so openly because he claims it would be “life-threatening.” 

Russia declared in 2022 that four Ukrainian regions – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia – were part of its territory, following referendums denounced by Kyiv and Western governments as illegal and coercive. 

Moscow’s expanding territorial claims

Peskov’s comments echo longstanding Russian claims to Ukraine’s southern territories under the imperial-era concept of “Novorossiya” (New Russia). In March 2025, President Vladimir Putin declared that “Novorossiya is an integral part of Russia,” with Peskov defining the region as encompassing eastern and southern Ukraine including Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, and Mykolaiv oblasts – far beyond currently occupied territories.

Any signals that Moscow suggests support for annexation elsewhere raise concerns in Ukraine. Despite such rhetoric, Russian forces do not fully control the regions they have already claimed.

Still, nationalist figures, including former President Dmitry Medvedev, have previously said Moscow should expand deeper into Ukraine to capture Odesa and Mykolaiv. Odesa, Ukraine’s largest port city on the Black Sea, holds particular strategic and symbolic importance as a historic trade hub and gateway to Europe.

Both regions have been frequent targets of Russian missile and drone strikes, which have killed civilians and damaged critical infrastructure.