As usual, a bit of a tangent from me

Kazhakstan may have at one point been considered Europe b/c it was part of the USSR:

circa 1989, administrative regions
www.lib.utexas.edu . . .

After the Soviet Union fell, Russia lost most of its [what I presume to be with my somewhat limited knowledge of contemporary Russian history/politics] autonomous regions, such as Kazhakstan and Kyrgyzstan, formerely Kyrgezia autonomous region (I think autonomous regions are called "oblast" in Russian, singular).

Russian administrative regions, circa 1994
www.lib.utexas.edu . . .

Much Love Always,
Dasha