Greater Ukraine

Ukrainian irredentism or Greater Ukraine refers to claims made by some Ukrainian nationalist groups to territory outside of Ukraine which they consider part of the Ukrainian national homeland.

History

Rise of nationalism

The 10 commandments of the Ukrainian People's Party were developed by Ukrainian nationalist, the leader of UPP Mykola Mikhnovsky in 1904.
These commandments were a kind of honor code for the party. They called for a ''one, united, indivisible, from the Carpathians to the Caucasus, independent, free, democratic Ukraine – a republic of working people.''

Claimed regions

Since Mikhnovsky the idea of ‘Ukrainian Independent United State’ has been a key nationalist slogan, but many would argue that the ‘unification’ of Ukrainian lands was partially completed in 1939–45.
Today's would-be Ukraina irredenta is mainly in the east, on the territory that is now part of the Russian Federation:

Starodub region north of Chernihiv
South-eastern parts of Voronezh, Kursk and Rostov oblasts
Kuban region

In the west, some radical nationalists would also cover the following territories:

Transnistria, the disputed left bank of the Dniester in Moldova
Prešov region in north-eastern Slovakia
Zakerzonia in south-eastern Poland
Brest region in south-western Belarus
Southern Bukovina and the area around Maramureș in northern Romania

Ukraine seriously claiming territories of neighbouring states is not considered possible. Foreign claims against Ukrainian territory have been acted on in the Russian Federation's 2014 annexation of Crimea, its covert military support of separatism in the Donbas region, aggressive rhetoric by the Russian government, and ultimately the 2022 invasion. In the case of Russian–Ukrainian conflict, radical Ukrainian nationalists could try to take advantage in the north Caucasus or elsewhere.