In June 1940, it was occupied by the Soviet Union together with Northern Bukovina and Bessarabia, although this territory was not mentioned in the Soviet ultimatum or in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, being an integral part of the Old Kingdom. The Red Army also occupied this land, probably due to its strategic position over the city of Cernăuți and attached it to the Ukrainian SSR. The Romanian Army had liberated the region in June 1941, but in August 1944, USSR reoccupied it.