evidence: Tuva (/ˈtuːvə/; Russian: Тува [tʊˈva]) or Tyva (/ˈtɪvə/; Tuvan: Тыва [tʰɤˈʋɐ]), officially the Republic of Tuva,[lower-alpha 1] is a republic of Russia.[13] Tuva lies at the geographical center of Asia, in southern Siberia. The republic borders the federal subjects of the Altai Republic, Buryatia, Irkutsk Oblast, Khakassia, and Krasnoyarsk Krai, and shares an international border with Mongolia to the south. Tuva has a population of 336,651 (2021 census).[14] Its capital city is Kyzyl, in which more than a third of the population reside. [...] Tuva was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1944, with the approval of Tuva's Little Khural (parliament), but without a referendum on the issue. It became the Tuvan Autonomous Oblast, within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, after the Soviet victory in World War II.[26] Salchak Toka, leader of the Tuvan People's Revolutionary Party, was given the title of First Secretary of the Tuvan Communist Party and became the de facto ruler of Tuva until his death in 1973.[27] The territory became the Tuvan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic on 10 October 1961.[26] [...] Tuva was one of the Russian regions with the highest number of military casualties during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[33]