Following the Soviet Union's collapse on 26 December 1991 and concurrent with the lead-up to Ukrainian independence on 24 August 1991, a nascent movement began in Odessa for the restoration of Novorossiya region; it however failed within days and never defined its borders. The initial conception had not developed exact borders, but focus centred on the Odessan, Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Crimean oblasts, with eventually other oblasts joining as well.