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Russian separatists in Ukraine have had an important role in "inviting" Russia to invade Ukraine. In order to predict future steps that may be taken by Russia, it may be useful to know: are there substantial groups in other East European countries (particularly those bordering Russia or Ukraine), that support accession to Russia? If so, what are they?

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    Relevant map Commented Mar 16, 2022 at 16:17
  • I don't think that you can call Russians in different countries as "separatists". There are just huge amount of people in some countries (including different nations btw) who thinks like us. You cannot force them to think as you want. The stress between pro-american goverment and pro-neutral nations produces some kind of separatists activity as you like to call it
    – Egor
    Commented Mar 16, 2022 at 19:08
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    @Egor I do not say that all Russians are separatists. By "separatists" I mean only those who actively want to detach the region they leave in from their current country, and adjoin it to Russia. The fact that they "think" differently is not a problem; the problem is that they invite the Russian army to take their country by force. Think what would happen if e.g. the Buddhists in Tuva would decide that they want to separate from Russia and join Mongolia, and invite the Mongolian army to initiate war with Russia. Commented Mar 16, 2022 at 22:29

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Moldova (which borders Ukraine to the West) definitely has them. They have a self-declared republic there too, Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), better known as Transnistria in the West.

It's more debatable if the Russian minority in the Baltic countries (~20-25% of the population in two of those) could count as such, but relations with the majority there have been tense at times and...

Latvia and Estonia designated Soviet-era migrants as non-citizens.

and e.g.

Contact between Russians and Estonians is rare.

and (2018)

A New Law In Latvia Aims To Preserve National Language By Limiting Russian In Schools

This by Western mainstream media accounts. You can only imagine how the Russian media portrays these matters.

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    As I understand it, Estonia has made it fairly easy for long-term residents to become citizens; it merely requires an oath of loyalty and tests on Estonian language and citizenship (and they offer free classes for learning the Estonian language.)
    – prosfilaes
    Commented Mar 14, 2022 at 15:51
  • It's more debatable if the Russian minority in the Baltic countries (~20-25% of the population in two of those) could count as such - if they live there, probably they are not :) Commented Mar 15, 2022 at 19:08
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Georgia also needs to be mentioned: Wikipedia on South Ossetia.

Specifically regarding your question: Plans of integration with the Russian Federation.

I almost don't dare to try to write what the Wikipedia link says so it becomes a real answer, but the situation there is a lot like Crimea. (Smooth military operation to take it away from Georgia; if there was election then a big chance they would choose Russia.)

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