Official terms in successor states of the Soviet Union differ , but some still use a cognate of the Russian term , e.g. voblast ( voblasts , voblasts , ) is used for provinces of Belarus , and oblys ( plural : oblystar ) for Regions of Kazakhstan .
Official terms in successor states of the Soviet Union differ , but some still use a cognate of the Russian term , e.g. voblast ( voblasts , voblasts ' , IPA : [ ˈvobɫasʲtsʲ ] ) is used for provinces of Belarus , and oblys ( plural : oblystar ) for provinces of Kazakhstan .