Migration processes in the south of Ukraine in the most active period in the XVIII–XIX centuries should be divided into external and internal. Relocation from European countries refers to the external migration and internal migration is associated with the movement of migrants within the Russian Empire. It should be noted that quite diverse forms of internal migration (separate individuals, separate families, planned and spontaneous groups etc.) are not sufficiently investigated and this fact makes their classification difficult. Unlike external migration, internal migration was not of a large-scale and took place within small areas (e.g., in Budzhak, the Bug-Dniester interfluve region). Therefore, such migration is considered to be local, butsubstantial in terms of the effect it exerted on the nature and the consequences of ethnic processes. Local migrations are made of forced and voluntary groups. The causes of forced migration might have been unsatisfactory material conditions, which resulted in people`s relocation aimed to improve their living standards. To the causes of forced migration, we can also attribute some occasional situations, deliberate circumstances, which led to relocation (e.g.,a military polygon construction and tenant evictions). The forced migration should include relocations, caused by living conditions which don`t conform to stereotypes. This category should include, for example, deported Ukrainians from Western Ukraine and Poland after World War II, who endured difficulties related to their social and domestic adaptation and who often changed their place of residence. The local voluntary migration occurred mainly within several neighbouring settlements. The reasons for these relocations, usually not numerous, were family ties. It was a fairly common practice for the people who lived in the neighbouring Moldovan villages to move to those of Ukraine and vice versa.