The Soviet deportations from Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina took place between late 1940 and 1951 and were part of Joseph Stalin's policy of political repression of the potential opposition to the Soviet power (see Population transfer in the Soviet Union). The deported were typically moved to so-called "special settlements" (спецпоселения) (see Involuntary settlements in the Soviet Union). The deportations began after the Soviet annexation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, which occurred in June 1940 (see Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina).