What is "selsoviet"

Selsoviet (; , silrada) is a shortened name for a rural council. The full names for the term are, in , , . Selsoviets were the lowest level of administrative division in rural areas in the Soviet Union. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, they were preserved as a third tier of administrative-territorial division throughout Ukraine, Belarus, and some of the federal subjects of Russia.

A selsoviet is a rural administrative division of a district that includes one or several smaller rural localities and is in a subordination to its respectful raion administration.

The name coincides with the name of the local rural self-administration, Rural Soviet, a part of the Soviet system of administration. A selsoviet was headed by the Chairman of Selsoviet, who had to be appointed by higher administration.

For a considerable period of Soviet history, passports of rural residents were stored in selsoviet offices, and people could not move outside their area of residence without the permission of selsoviet.