Novorossia as the historical reality and the political project

The article is a historical review of the problem of Novorossia. The author pays special attention to the emergence of the term of Novorossia, and to the historical conditions of accession of the territory in the 18 th century. The term and the political project of Novorossia were revived in the connection with the political crisis in Ukraine. Now Novorossia is a political entity that arises in the south-east of Ukraine during the anti- Kiev revolution. The author considers that there are three variants of the future of the self-proclaimed republics, and at the same time he notes two alternatives to this project in the civilization paradigm, viewing it in the sense of the local East European civilization.