Which countries has Russia or the Soviet Union invaded since 1925?
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Executive summary
From 1925 onward the Soviet Union and, after 1991, the Russian Federation conducted overt military invasions, occupations or annexations of multiple countries and territories including Afghanistan , Czechoslovakia , Iran (jointly in 1941), the Baltic states (1940 occupations), Georgia and Ukraine (2014 and a full-scale invasion from 2022) — all of which are documented in the supplied sources [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]. Reporting and lists in the provided sources also count earlier Soviet actions in the 1920s (for example the 1925 occupation of Urtatagai and Red Army operations to take control of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia) and major wartime occupations linked to World War II [6] [7] [1].
1. How “invasion” is being used: different definitions, different lists
The sources use a variety of meanings for “invasion”: direct interstate military assaults, occupations and annexations, Warsaw Pact interventions, and even joint Allied actions in WWII and Soviet-era internal suppressions [2] [1]. Some compendia (Wikipedia lists and long-form timelines) include Soviet-era Red Army takeovers of newly independent states in the 1920s and 1940s as invasions, while other pieces framed later Russian actions (Georgia 2008; Crimea 2014; Ukraine 2022) as contemporary invasions or annexations [7] [1] [4] [5].
2. The 1920s: Red Army consolidation and island clashes
Sources record that during and after the civil war period the Bolshevik state used Red Army forces to take control of several former imperial territories: Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia were occupied in the early 1920s, and the Soviet Union occupied the Afghan island of Urtatagai in 1925 [7] [6]. These episodes are presented in the sources as Soviet military actions to fold border regions into the emerging USSR rather than interstate wars between fully consolidated states [7] [6].
3. World War II and immediate post-war occupations
The Soviet Union fought against (and was invaded by) Axis powers, but it also occupied territories in 1945–46: operations in Manchukuo and the Kuril Islands, the joint Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in 1941, and Soviet advances into Eastern Europe that later became control or occupation of Baltic states and parts of Eastern Europe are all documented in the sources [1] [8]. The sources note the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states after the Molotov–Ribbentrop arrangements and large-scale deportations tied to those occupations [3] [1].
4. Cold War interventions and the Brezhnev Doctrine
Cold War-era invasions recorded in the supplied material include the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 — a Soviet-led occupation to roll back reforms — and the 1979–1989 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, described as a direct military intervention [2] [1]. The Brezhnev Doctrine is cited in the context of justifying intervention in socialist countries’ affairs [1].
5. Late Soviet-era and post-Soviet episodes — frozen conflicts and annexations
The supplied sources document Soviet-era absorption of states and, after 1991, a pattern of Russian military action in the post-Soviet space: Russo-Georgian war and occupation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in 2008, Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and sustained intervention in Donbas, and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine beginning in 2022 [4] [2] [5]. Reporting also highlights Russian support for separatist entities and the use of proxy or hybrid techniques short of traditional invasion in many instances [2] [4].
6. Compilations, maps and contested totals — why lists differ
Different sources produce different country tallies because they include or omit: civil-war-era reconquests, joint Allied actions, wartime occupations, Warsaw Pact operations, proxy support or annexations. Popular lists and maps aggregate these into “countries invaded” differently; Rubryka and aggregated lists emphasize Soviet imperial expansion and list many nations that became Soviet republics or were occupied in 1940 [3] [9].
7. What the provided sources do not say
Available sources do not mention a single, definitive, agreed-upon tally of “countries invaded since 1925” in the supplied set; instead they present episodic lists, timelines and explanatory articles that vary by scope and definition [10] [2] [1]. If you want a single canonical list, the supplied materials point to multiple plausible inclusions but no one universally accepted count [10] [9].
8. Bottom line and what to watch for in further research
To build a defensible list you must pick a working definition (direct military invasion, occupation/annexation, or proxy interference) and then consult primary timelines and official histories; the supplied sources give clear examples across the decades — Urtatagai/1925, Baltic occupations/1940, Iran/1941, Czechoslovakia/1968, Afghanistan/1979, Georgia/2008, Crimea/2014, and Ukraine/2022 among them — but they stop short of a single consolidated tabulation [6] [1] [7] [2] [4] [5].