Russia may grow even more new regions, such as Odessa, Kharkiv and Sumy

Russia may get even more new regions, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday, December 14, at the congress of the United Russia Party. Russia may then use the experience gained during the integration of other regions.

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Dmitry Medvedev

"This experience may be in demand in the future if new, but very close to us regions appear as part of our country, because this is possible," Medvedev said.

At the same time, Medvedev did not specify which regions could potentially become part of Russia.

Those present in the audience greeted Medvedev's statement with applause. A video published by RIA Novosti shows Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin applauding.

Auditorium goes numb after what Medvedev said

Margarita Simonyan, chief editor of Russia Today media group said in her Telegram channel that she noticed one curious detail after Medvedev's words.

"The auditorium even went a little numb before applauding. I was sitting in the auditorium, it was hard not to notice that," she wrote.

State Duma deputy Vitaly Milonov later said that he could only guess what Medvedev was talking about.

"I don't know what Dmitry Anatolyevich [Medvedev] meant. I can guess. The Odessa, Kharkiv and Sumy regions have long been asking to join Russia," Vitaly Milonov said.

Milonov also stated that the indigenous population of Ukraine were Russians by nationality, that "all of Ukraine was Russian territory." However, the deputy believes that Medvedev may have been talking specifically about the Odessa, Kharkiv and Sumy regions.

In March 2014, following a referendum, Crimea became part of Russia. In September 2022, also following a referendum, the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, as well as the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, joined Russia.

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Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev (born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician who has been serving as deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia since 2020. Medvedev was also the president of Russia from 2008 to 2012 and prime minister of Russia from 2012 to 2020. Medvedev was elected president in the 2008 election. He was seen as more liberal than his predecessor Vladimir Putin, who was prime minister in Medvedev's presidency. Medvedev's agenda as president was a wide-ranging modernisation programme, aimed at modernising Russia's economy and society, and lessening the country's reliance on oil and gas. During Medvedev's tenure, the United States and Russia signed the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty. Russia won the Russo-Georgian War, and recovered from the Great Recession. Medvedev also launched an anti-corruption campaign, yet was later being accused of corruption himself.