Novorossiya, literally New Russia, formed as a new imperial province of Russia (Novorosiiskaia guberniia) in 1764 from military frontier regions along with parts of the southern Hetmanate in preparation for war with the Ottomans, is further expanded by the annexation of the Zaporozhian Sich in 1775.

The region is settled by Ukrainians and Russians after the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Empire in 1783.

Despite promises in the Treaty of Pereyaslav, the Ukrainian elite and the Cossacks never receive the freedoms and the autonomy they are expecting.

However, within the Empire, Ukrainians rise to the highest Russian state and church offices.

At a later period, tsarists establish a policy of Russification, suppressing the use of the Ukrainian language in print and in public