Until 1784 most of the fortifications around Sevastopol were dedicated to the protection of the harbour entrance, the city itself and its naval base and were positioned close to these features. The construction of fortifications in the surrounding hills had been planned as early as 1837, but at the time of the battle only basic facilities and roadways had been completed on the north side of the long, westward-facing bay. To the south the central anchor of the defence system was the Malakoff-Kurgan ridge. Situated about southeast of the city, it consisted of a two-story stone tower of limestone on which the Russians had placed five heavy 18-pounder cannons at the beginning of the siege.


There is some mystery surrounding this tower. Although it is known that the tower was built some time before the start of the war, the historical records do not show exactly when this occurred, and no mention of this is made in the contemporary descriptions of the siege itself. Additionally, there are different spellings and translations into or from Russian, including Малахова башня. What is known is that the tower was originally built or expanded by Sevastopol merchants and then later taken over by the Russian Navy. The tower had a diameter of about and a height of . In its centre the battery known as "Lunette Kamchatka" was placed. This was a smaller fortification that was designed to protect several artillery pieces.


At this time the Russian cartographers marked all landmarks in and around this ridge as "Fort Malakoff". This included several large grave mounds and the same ridge lying in front known as Mamelon ("vert Mamelon"). The name "Fortmortal Malakoff" (or French "Fort Malakoff", Russian "Malakhoff") was retained after the war in Western literature covering the Crimean War.


The harbour of Sevastopol, formed by the estuary of the Chernaya, was protected against attack by sea not only by the Russian war-vessels, afloat and sunken, but also by heavy granite forts on the south side and by the defensive works. For the town itself and the Karabelnaya suburb the plans for the works had been laid down for years. The Malakoff Tower covered the suburb, flanked on either side by the Redan and the Little Redan. The town was covered by a line of works marked by a flagstaff and central bastions, and separated from the Redan by the inner harbour.


Lieutenant Colonel Eduard Totleben, the Russian chief engineer, had begun work on these sites early in the war. Through daily efforts to rebuild, re-arm and improve the fortifications, he was able to finally connect them with a continuous defence system enceinte. Yet early in October 1854, Sevastopol was not the towering fortress it later became, and Totleben himself maintained that had the allies assaulted it immediately, they would have succeeded in taking the city. There were, however, many reasons against them doing so at the time, and it was not until 17 October that the first attack took place.


Throughout 17 October, a tremendous artillery duel raged. The Russian artillery was initially successful, the French corps fell under siege and suffered heavy losses. The advancing fleet engaging the harbour batteries also suffered a loss of 500 men and several ships were heavily damaged. Still, British siege batteries managed to silence the Malakoff and its annexes, after having succeeded in hitting a munitions depot and, if failure had not occurred at the other points of attack, an assault might have succeeded. As it was, by daybreak, Totleben's engineers had repaired and improved the damaged works.


For months the siege of Sevastopol continued. During July the Russians lost on an average of 250 men a day, and finally the Russians decided to break the stalemate and gradual attrition of their army. Gorchakov and the field army were to make another attack at the Chernaya, the first since the Inkerman. On 16 August, both Pavel Liprandi and Read's corps furiously attacked the 37,000 French and Sardinian troops on the heights above Traktir Bridge. The assailants came on with the greatest determination, but they were ultimately unsuccessful. At the end of the day, the Russians drew off leaving 260 officers and 8,000 men dead or dying on the field; the French and British only lost 1,700. With this defeat the last chance of saving Sevastopol vanished.


French right sector (French 2nd Corps under GdD Bosquet)


British sector (see Battle of the Great Redan)


French left sector (French 1st Corps under GdD La Salles)


At first sight Russia would seem to be almost invulnerable to a sea power, and no first success, however crushing, could have humbled Nicholas I. Indeed, the mere capture of Sevastopol would not have been strategically decisive. However, as the Tsar had decided to defend it at all costs and with unlimited resources, it became an unpleasant defeat, especially as the Allies had reached victory with limited resources.


During the nearly one-year siege of Sevastopol in the Crimean War, the fortifications on the Malakhov were hotly contested as they overlooked the whole city and the inner harbour. After the success of the French troops under the command of Marshal Pelissier, later the Duke of Malakoff (French: Duc de Malakoff), and General Patrice de Mac-Mahon, the Russian defenders evacuated the entire city on 8 September 1855, bringing a climax to the war.


As the fortress enabled the control of the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, the Russian forces destroyed all of their equipment and withdrew, leaving Russia with no more military fortifications on the Black Sea. The long-awaited Russian domination of the inland sea to obtain free passage through the Bosporus to the Mediterranean (and beyond) was now not possible.


Among the seven surviving defenders of a stone tower on the Malakov Kurgan, which were found by French troops among the dead, was the seriously wounded Vasily Kolchak, the father of Aleksandr Vasiliyevich Kolchak. Kolchak would later become the head of all the counter-revolutionary anti-communist White forces during the Russian Civil War.


The Battle of Inkerman was fought during the Crimean War on 5 November 1854 between the allied armies of Britain and France against the Imperial Russian Army. The battle broke the will of the Russian Army to defeat the allies in the field, and was followed by the siege of Sevastopol. The role of troops fighting mostly on their own initiative due to the foggy conditions during the battle has earned the engagement the name "The Soldier's Battle".


The allied armies of Britain, France, Sardinia, and the Ottoman Empire had landed on the west coast of Crimea on 14 September 1854, intending to capture the Russian naval base at Sevastopol. The allied armies fought off and defeated the Russian Army at the Battle of Alma, forcing them to retreat in some confusion toward the River Kacha. While the allies could have taken this opportunity to attack Sevastopol before Sevastopol could be put into a proper state of defence, the allied commanders, British general FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan and the French commander François Certain Canrobert could not agree on a plan of attack.


The Second Division in action; the Russians in the valley.


The rest of the Russian column proceeded down to the valley where they were attacked by British artillery and pickets, eventually being driven off. The resistance of the British troops here had blunted all of the initial Russian attacks. General Paulov, leading the Russian second column of some 15,000, attacked the British positions on Sandbag Battery. As they approached, the 300 British defenders vaulted the wall and charged with the bayonet, driving off the leading Russian battalions. Five Russian battalions were assailed in the flanks by the British 41st Regiment, who drove them back to the River Chernaya.


Meanwhile, the Light Division occupied Victoria Ridge throughout the day. Its commander, Sir George Brown (British Army officer) was wounded, so General William Codrington (British Army officer) took command. He refused the help of other troops, perpetually sending them back to the battle.


Defence of Home Hill by the British and French forces.


Despite being severely outnumbered, the allied troops held their ground, becoming a marvel of each regiment's tradition and tenacity. The amount of fog during the battle led to many of the troops on both sides being cut off, in battalion-sized groups or less. Thus, the battle became known as "The Soldier's Battle". The Russian attack, although unsuccessful, had denied the allies any attempt at gaining a quick victory in the siege of Sevastopol. Following this battle, the Russians made no further large-scale attempts to defeat the allies in the field.


Alexander Kinglake obtained the official casualty returns for the battle. By his account allied casualties were: 2,573 British, of whom 635 were killed, and 1,800 French, of whom 175 were killed. Russia lost 3,286 killed within a total (including men taken prisoner) of 11,959 casualties.


The battle popularised the use of the name Inkerman in placenames in Victorian England, including Inkerman Road in Kentish Town, London; Inkerman Road, St Albans, and Inkerman Way in Knaphill. There is an Inkerman Street in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia, in between Balaclava Rd and Alma Rd. There is also an Inkerman, New Brunswick named after the battle.


The Battle of Eupatoria (Russian: Штурм Евпатории (Storm of Eupatoria), Turkish: Gözleve Muharebesi) occurred on 17 February 1855 during the Crimean War when the army of the Russian Empire unsuccessfully attempted to capture the Crimean port city of Eupatoria held by the forces of the Ottoman Empire.


On 28 March 1854, the United Kingdom and France formally entered the Crimean War as allies of the Ottoman Empire by declaring war against Russia. In September 1854, Allied forces landed on the coast of the Crimean Peninsula as a part of a military offensive to attack and capture Russia's primary Black Sea naval base at Sevastopol. By mid-October, the Allies had surrounded Sevastopol and put the port city under siege. During the fall and winter of 1854-1855, the belligerents reinforced their armies on Crimea. While the Russians brought troops to Crimea overland from the mainland, the Allies brought in their reinforcements by means of transports across the Black Sea with Eupatoria being one of two major disembarkation points for the Allies on Crimea.


In December 1855, Tsar Nicholas I wrote to Prince Alexander Menshikov, the Russian Commander-in-chief for the Crimean War, demanding that the reinforcements being sent to Crimea be put to a useful purpose and expressing a fear that enemy landings at Eupatoria were a danger. The Tsar feared rightfully so that additional Allied forces at Eupatoria, located 75 kilometers north of Sebastopol, could sever Crimea from Russia at the Isthmus of Perekop cutting-off the flow of communications, materials, and reinforcements.


Shortly thereafter, Prince Menshikov informed his officers on Crimea that Tsar Nicholas insisted that Eupatoria be captured and destroyed if it could not be held. To conduct the attack, Menshikov added that he had been authorized to use the reinforcements currently en route to Crimea including the 8th Infantry Division. Menshikov then acted to select a commanding officer for the attack to which his first and second choices both declined the assignment, making excuses to avoid leading an offensive that neither believed would have a successful outcome. Ultimately, Menshikov selected Lieutenant General Stepan Khrulev, an artillery staff officer described as willing to "do exactly what you tell him," as the officer in overall charge of the undertaking.


To prepare for the attack, Khrulev inspected Eupatoria by means of numerous reconnaissance missions. In the opinion of the Russian commander, the town was strongly fortified as it was surrounded by a continuous earthen wall bordered by a ditch. There were some portions of the wall, however, that seemed unfinished and under construction. Along the walls were gun batteries supporting 34 cannons. Given its position bordering the shore of the Black Sea to the south, the city was also protected by the guns of Allied warships in the harbor. Outside the fortified walls, the landscape was largely barren as the need for firewood had resulted in the destruction of most of the surrounding buildings and structures.


Inside the city there were approximately 33,000 men including nearly five Turkish infantry divisions, two Turkish cavalry squadrons, 1,000 Tatars, 276 French sailors, and a small French infantry detachment. The Turkish forces at Eupatoria were under the command of Omar Pasha an experienced military officer.


To capture the city, Khrulev planned to attack in three columns. The primary thrust would be in the center at the north wall where the impact of a potential naval bombardment would be less. In order to draw the defenders away from the center, Khrulev would use the other two columns to attack on the flanking walls of the city. The flanking attack on the left would begin first followed by the flanking attack on the right. If the plan went well, the focus of the defenders would shift to the flanks and the Russians would move to break through at the center.


Each of the three columns was to be composed of approximately 5,000 foot soldiers and 36 cannons. The columns charged with conducting the flanking attacks were also to be supported by over 2,200 cavalry troopers. Two dragoon regiments with a light horse battery and a brigade of lancers were to be held behind the lines in reserve. To provide cover for the artillery and their crews, 76 wooden epaulements were to be built before the battle and moved to a position 500 yards from the town walls when the battle began. Khrulev's total deployment for the battle was planned to include 22 infantry battalions, 24 cavalry squadrons, and five Cossack sotnias, a total of nearly 19,000 men.


In the evening of 16 February, Khrulev put his plan into action, quietly moving his forces to positions approximately 3½ kilometers from the walls of Eupatoria. At that point, lines of riflemen and the Cossacks were moved to the front as forward posts while the remainder of the men silently began to build the epaulements for the gun batteries. The darkness of the night and the contour of the land hid their activities from the Turkish pickets.


As dawn approached, Khrulev mounted his horse and personally led the column on the left forward to the point of the first attack, approximately 1,300 meters from Eupatoria's walls. Following immediately behind Khrulev, the company commanders led their battalions forward. As they moved forward, however, they were observed by the Tatars on watch who retreated toward the city sounding the alarm. Although, Khrulev planned his offensive as a surprise attack, the Turks were aware that an attack was forthcoming and were already on the parapets.


At approximately 6 am, the first shots were fired when the Turks began a general cannonade supported by rifle fire. As quickly as they could respond, the Russians began their own artillery fire. For about an hour both sides continued to bombard each other. During this time, Khrulev reinforced his column on the left, advanced his artillery to within 500 meters of the city walls, and began to concentrate his cannon fire on the Turkish center.


At this point, the attack effectively stopped. The ditches were filled with water at such a depth that the attackers quickly found themselves unable to scale the walls. After numerous failed attempts to cross the ditches and ascend their ladders to the top of the walls, the Russians were forced to retreat and seek shelter back at grounds of the cemetery. Seeing their enemy's difficulties, the Turks took advantage of the situation and sent a battalion of infantry and two squadrons of cavalry out of the city to pursue the Russians as they fell back.


Almost immediately, Khrulev deemed the ditches as an obstacle that could not be overcome and came to the conclusion that Eupatoria could not be taken given its defenses and complement of defenders. When asked with regard to the next steps, Khrulev ordered his forces to retreat. The order was communicated to the commanders of the right and center columns, neither of which had engaged in the fight to the degree as the effort of the left column.


Although many of the Russian commanders desired to continue the attack, they were overruled by Khrulev and an orderly retreat was begun at about 10 am that morning. Khrulev led his defeated force to a defensive position in the hills to the east and formed them up into three columns. Omar Pasha sent a force of infantry and cavalry in pursuit, but chose only to observe their activities.


The Russian casualties were almost twice as great as those of the Turkish defenders. The Russians suffered 168 killed, 583 wounded, and 18 missing. The Turkish casualties were 91 killed and 286 wounded. Among the Ottoman dead was General Selim-Pasha.


When the news of the defeat reached St. Petersburg, Tsar Nicholas was extremely disappointed and saddened. Already ill, Tsar Nicholas' spirit seemed broken and he died shortly thereafter on 2 March 1855. Succeeding his father, Tsar Alexander II dismissed Khrulev and replaced Prince Menshikov as the Commander-in-chief of the Russian forces for the Crimean War.


Although there was sentiment that the tyrant was dead and that the war would soon end, Tsar Alexander did not seek an immediate peace. Strategically, the battle of Eupatoria confirmed that Allied command of the Black Sea would ensure that the threat to the Russian flank on Crimea would remain for the duration of hostilities. For the Allies, possession of Eupatoria also meant that the investment of Sevastopol remained a viable option.


Melitopolsky Uyezd () was one of the subdivisions of the Taurida Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the northern part of the governorate. Its administrative centre was Melitopol.


At the time of the Russian Empire Census of 1897, Melitopolsky Uyezd had a population of 384,239. Of these, 54.9% spoke Ukrainian, 32.8% Russian, 5.2% German, 4.2% Yiddish, 0.9% Belarusian, 0.6% Polish, 0.5% Bulgarian, 0.3% Crimean Tatar, 0.2% Czech, 0.1% Armenian, 0.1% Greek and 0.1% Romani as their native language.


Dneprovsky Uyezd () was one of the subdivisions of the Taurida Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the northwestern part of the governorate. Its administrative centre was Alyoshki (Oleshky).


At the time of the Russian Empire Census of 1897, Dneprovsky Uyezd had a population of 212,241. Of these, 73.6% spoke Ukrainian, 19.9% Russian, 3.0% Yiddish, 1.4% Belarusian, 1.3% German, 0.3% Polish, 0.2% Crimean Tatar, 0.2% Moldovan or Romanian and 0.1% Romani as their native language.


Perekopsky Uyezd ("Перекопский уезд") was one of the subdivisions of the Taurida Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the central part of the governorate, in northeastern Crimea. Its administrative centre was Perekop.


At the time of the Russian Empire Census of 1897, Perekopsky Uyezd had a population of 51,393. Of these, 23.9% spoke Crimean Tatar, 22.8% Russian, 22.8% German, 22.0% Ukrainian, 2.6% Yiddish, 1.6% Estonian, 1.2% Czech, 1.2% Armenian, 0.5% Romani, 0.4% Greek, 0.4% Belarusian, 0.3% Polish, 0.1% Lithuanian and 0.1% Moldovan or Romanian as their native language.


Kamianka-Dniprovska (; ) is a city in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Kamianka-Dniprovska Raion. Population:


The landscape of this district is flat and steppe.


In 1972 the population was 16 900 people.


In January 1989 the population was 17 906 people.


In January 2013 the population was 13 495 people.


The city is home to the Kamianka-Dniprovska District Historical and Archeological Museum. An archeological site near Kamianka-Dniprovska gives evidence suggesting that the city was once the capital of the ancient Scythian Kingdom.


Simferopolsky Uyezd ("Симферопольский уезд") was one of the subdivisions of the Taurida Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the southern part of the governorate, in southern Crimea. Its administrative centre was Simferopol.


At the time of the Russian Empire Census of 1897, Simferopolsky Uyezd had a population of 141,717. Of these, 44.4% spoke Crimean Tatar, 30.2% Russian, 7.1% Ukrainian, 6.5% Yiddish, 4.1% German, 2.1% Armenian, 1.7% Greek, 1.2% Polish, 1.0% Bulgarian, 0.4% Estonian, 0.4% Belarusian, 0.2% Czech, 0.1% Turkish, 0.1% Romani, 0.1% French and 0.1% Moldovan or Romanian as their native language.


Kerch (; , ; Old East Slavic: Кърчевъ, Ancient Greek: , "Pantikápaion", Medieval Greek: "Bosporos"; ; ) is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of the Crimea.


Founded 2,600 years ago as an ancient Greek colony, Kerch is considered to be one of the most ancient cities in Crimea. The city experienced rapid growth starting in the 1920s and was the site of a major battle during World War II.


Today, it is one of the largest cities in Crimea and is among the republic's most important industrial, transport and tourist centres.


Archeological digs at Mayak village near the city ascertained that the area had already been inhabited in 17th–15th centuries BC. While many finds from Kerch can be found in the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg and the local museum, a large number of antique sculptures, reliefs, bronze and glassware, ceramics and jewellery were excavated in 1855-1856 during the Crimean War by Doctor Duncan MacPherson, a surgeon from the British Army, and later donated to the British Museum in London.


Kerch as a city starts its history in 7th century BC, when Greek colonists from Miletus founded a city-state named Panticapaeum on Mount Mithridat near the mouth of the Melek-Chesme river. Panticapaeum subdued nearby cities and by 480 BC became a capital of the Kingdom of Bosporus. Later, during the rule of Mithradates VI Eupator, Panticapaeum for a short period of time became the capital of the much more powerful and extensive Kingdom of Pontus.


The city was located at the intersection of trade routes between the steppe and Europe. This caused it to grow rapidly. The city's main exports were grain and salted fish; wine-making was also common. Panticapaeum minted its own coins. According to extant documents the Melek-Chesme river (small and shallow nowadays) was navigable in Bosporan times, and sea galleys were able to enter the river. A large portion of the city's population was ethnically Scythian, later Sarmatian, as the large royal barrow (Kurgan) at Kul-Oba testifies.


In the 1st century AD Panticapaeum and the Kingdom of Bosporus suffered from Ostrogoth raids; then the city was devastated by the Huns in AD 375.


Myrmekion was founded in the eastern part of the Kerch, 4 km NE of ancient Panticapaeum. The settlement was founded by Ionians in the first half of the 6th c. BC.


From the 6th century the city was under the control of the Byzantine Empire. By order of Emperor Justinian I, a citadel named Bospor was built there. Bospor was the centre of a bishopric, the diocese of Bosporus and developed under the influence of Greek Christianity. In 576, it withstood a siege by the Göktürks under Bokhan, aided by Anagai, the last khan (ruler) of the Uturgurs (tribe of Huns).


In the 7th century, the Turkic Khazars took control of Bospor, and the city was named Karcha from Turkic "karşı" meaning 'opposite, facing.' The main local government official during Khazar times was the tudun. Christianity was a major religion in Kerch during the period of Khazar rule. Kerch's Church of St. John the Baptist was founded in 717; thus, it is the oldest church in Ukraine. The "Church of the Apostles" existed during the late 8th and early 9th centuries, according to the "Life of the Apostle Andrew" by Epiphanius of Salamis.


Following the fall of Khazaria to Kievan Rus' in the late 10th century, Kerch became the centre of a Khazar successor-state. Its ruler, Georgius Tzul, was deposed by a Byzantine-Rus expedition in 1016.


From the 10th century, the city was a Slavic settlement named Korchev, which belonged to the Tmutarakan principality. Kerch was a center of trade between Russia', Crimea, Caucasus and the Orient.


In the 13th century, the Crimea including Korchev was invaded by Mongols. After Mongols, the city became the Genoese colony of Cerco (Cherkio) in 1318 and served as a sea harbour, where townspeople worked at salt-works and fishery.


In 1475, city was passed to the Ottoman Empire. During the Turkish rule Kerch fell into decay and served as a slave-market. It repeatedly suffered from raids of Zaporizhian Cossacks.


In response to strengthening of Russian military forces in Azov area, the Turks built a fortress, named Yenikale, near Kerch on the shore of Kerch Strait. The fortress was completed by 1706. In 1771 the Imperial Russian Army invaded Crimea and approached Yenikale. The Turks decided to abandon the fortress, though reinforcements from the Ottoman Empire had arrived a few days earlier. By the Peace Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji in 1774, Kerch and Yenikale were ceded to Russia. As a result, the Turkish heritage has been almost completely wiped out.


In 1790 Russian naval forces under the command of admiral Fyodor Ushakov defeated the Turkish fleet at the Battle of Kerch Strait.


Because of its location, from 1821 Kerch developed into an important trade and fishing port. The state museum of ancient times and a number of educational institutions were opened in the city. The ironwork factory was built in 1846 based on a huge iron ore deposit found on Kerch Peninsula.


During the Crimean War the city was devastated by British forces in 1855.


In the late 19th century, mechanical and cement factories were built, and tinned food and tobacco factories were established.


By 1900, Kerch was connected to a railroad system, and the fairway of Kerch Strait was deepened and widened. At this time, the population had reached 33,000.


After suffering a decline during the First World War and the Russian Civil War, the city resumed its growth in the late 1920s, with the expansion of various industries, iron ore and metallurgy in particular, and by 1939 its population had reached 104,500.


On the Eastern Front of World War II from 1941 to 1945, Kerch was the site of heavy fighting between Red Army and Axis forces.


After fierce fighting, the city was taken by the Germans in November 1941. On 31 December 1941 the 302nd Mountain Rifle Division recaptured the city following a naval landing operation at Kamysh Burun, to the south of the city, five days earlier. In 1942 the Germans occupied the city again. The Red Army lost over 160,000 men, either killed or taken POW at the Battle of the Kerch Peninsula. On 31 October 1943 another Soviet naval landing operation was launched. Kerch returned to Soviet control on 11 April 1944.


The German invaders killed about 15,000 citizens and deported another 14,000 during their occupation.


Evidence of German atrocities in Kerch was presented in the Nuremberg trials. After the war, the city was awarded the title Hero City.


The Adzhimushkay catacombs (mines) in the city's suburbs were the site of guerrilla warfare against the occupation. Thousands of soldiers and refugees found shelter inside, and were involved in counterattacks. Many of them died underground, including those who died of numerous alleged poison gas attacks. Later, a memorial was established on the site.


On 11 November 2007 there was a great storm that passed through the city, causing much damage and an ecological disaster as a few ships, including an oil tanker, were shipwrecked and blocked the Kerch Strait.


On 17 October 2018, a student killed 20 people and himself at Kerch Polytechnic College.


Kerch has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification "Cfa") with cool to cold winters and warm to hot summers.


The city municipality stretches over a substantial area and includes several separate neighborhoods that are part of the Kerch city: Eltigen (Heroyevskoe), Kamysh-Burun (Arshyntsevo), Port Krym, Adzhimushkai, and Tuzla Island.


Today Kerch is considered as a city of metallurgists, shipbuilders and fishermen, and also has a significant tourism sector.


The largest enterprises in the city are:


Construction-materials, food processing, and light industries play a significant role in the city's economy. Kerch is also a fishing fleet base and an important processing centre for numerous fish products.


Because of its location on the shores of the Azov and Black seas, Kerch became a popular summer resort among people of the former USSR. Also, several mud-cure sources are located near the city. Despite the seaside location, the tourist appeal of Kerch today is limited because of the industrial character of the city and associated pollution.


Despite the lack of beaches in the town's area, there are a lot of them at a distance of 20 minutes' travel by bus, train or taxi.


Kerch has a number of impressive architectural and historical monuments. Ancient historical heritage of the city makes it attractive for scientific tourism. The most notable of Kerch's sights are:


Kerch has a harbour on the Kerch Strait, which makes it a key to the Sea of Azov, several railroad terminals and a small airport. The Kerch Strait ferry line across the Kerch Strait was established in 1953, connecting Crimea and the Krasnodar Krai (Port Krym – Port Kavkaz line); (as of November 2009) there are also plans for a Kerch-Poti ferry route.


Tavrida Highway work in progress along Kerch railway (two rails) highway (four lanes) bridge to connect Rostov Krasnodar with peninsula.


There are several ports in Kerch, including Kerch Maritime Trading Port, Kerch Maritime Fishing Port, Port Krym (ferry crossing), Kamysh-Burun Port.


The railroad terminals include: Kerch, Kerch I, Kerch Factory, Arshyntsevo, and Krym.


Bus network connects Kerch to other cities in Crimea and Krasnodar Krai.


On 25 April 2010, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed an agreement to build a bridge across the Kerch Strait. In January 2015, with Russia now in control, the contract for the construction of the bridge was awarded to Arkady Rotenberg's S.G.M. Group. In May 2015 construction commenced, and the road section of the bridge was opened to traffic in May 2018. The rail section was opened in 2019, with Russian president Vladimir Putin taking the first train across on December 23.


Archaeological digs in Kerch were launched under Russian auspices in the middle of the 19th century. Since then the site of ancient Panticapaeum city on Mount Mithridat has been systematically excavated. Located nearby are several ancient burial mounds (kurgans) and excavated cities. Kerch takes part in UNESCO's "Silk Road" programme.


Treasures and historical findings of Kerch adorn the collections of major museums around the world. Such as: the Hermitage, the Louvre, the British Museum, the Berlin Museum, the Moscow State Museum of fine arts and many others.


Currently, excavations at ancient fortresses of Kerch are led by scientists from Russia, Ukraine, and Poland.


A minor planet 2216 Kerch discovered in 1971 by Soviet astronomer Tamara Mikhailovna Smirnova is named after the city.


The Battle of the Great Redan () was a major battle during the Crimean War, fought between British forces against Russia on 18 June and 8 September 1855 as a part of the Siege of Sevastopol. The French army successfully stormed the Malakoff redoubt, whereas a simultaneous British attack on the Great Redan to the south of the Malakoff was repulsed. Contemporary commentators have suggested that, although the Redan became so important to the Victorians, it was probably not vital to the taking of Sevastopol. The fort at Malakhov was much more important and it was in the French sphere of influence. When the French stormed it after an eleven-month siege that the final, the British attack on the Redan became somewhat unnecessary.


Russia attacked the Ottoman Empire in 1853, aiming for territorial aggrandisement, but their invasion was repulsed. In early 1854 the British and French governments issued an ultimatum to Russia that they should cease their aggression against the Ottomans, but this was refused, resulting in a state of war existing between these states. The Franco-British navies entered the Black Sea with the intent of destroying the Russian fleet. After destroying the secondary naval base at Odessa their attention turned to the main Russian base at Sevastopol.


Landing at Eupatoria, the allies swept aside the Russian army at the Battle of the Alma. The allies then marched to Sevastopol and invested it. Russian attempts to break the siege failed, and the French refused to make aggressive movements against the Russian fortifications, even refusing to attack after the "second bombardment". This changed on 16 May 1855 when Pélissier assumed command of the French Army, and agreed with Lord Raglan that the Russian fortifications should be assaulted. This led to three allied offensives in the summer of 1855, the last of which overwhelmed the Russian defences.


By spring of 1855 the British controlled the central sector of the allied line. The British "right attack" faced the Russian "Bastion No. 3" commonly called the "Great Redan". The British "left attack" faced "Bastion No. 4", called the "Flagstaff Bastion" by the British. On the left the French 1eme Corps faced Bastions no. 4, 5 and 6 (it being an angle in the Russian line the British and French sectors met at Bastion No. 4) and the right the French 2e Corps faced Bastions No. 2 (Little Redan) and No. 3 (Malakoff).


The first allied offensive was intended to gain ground and advance the parallels. After several days of bombardment the two attacks, one British and one French, were completely successful and the allies held all their gains against heavy Russian counterattacks. The British attack was against "The Quarries" and was carried out by parts of the Light and 2nd Divisions (right attack). They advanced the lines sufficiently that the Great Redan was within attack range. A simultaneous attack on the Mamelon by the French enabled them to advance their parallels against the Malakoff.


With the successes of early June, it was decided to attempt a general assault against the whole Russian line. On 17 June the "fourth bombardment" silenced the Russian batteries and an assault on the 18th was proposed. Lord Raglan proposed a further two hours of bombardment to destroy any repairs that had been made during the night and suppress the defences. Pélissier proposed to attack at dawn (0300 hrs) without further preparation, and Raglan agreed to attack as soon as practicable after the French assault went in.


The British assault force consisted of three brigades, with the plan being to occupy the flanks of the Great Redan with 1st brigade, Light Division under Colonel Yea on the right and 1st brigade, 4th Division under Major General Sir John Campbell on the left. Then a brigade of the 2nd Division under Colonel Charles Trollop would assault the Redan proper. The other four brigades of these three divisions (2nd Division had three brigades at this time) were in reserve ready to attack past the Redan. On the left attack Sir Richard England's 3rd Division was ordered to make a demonstration against Redoubt No. 4, and the 1st Division was brought up as a final reserve.


Raglan, seeing the French being slaughtered, launched his attack to divert Russian attention and allow the French to retreat. Only Yea's and Campbell's brigades (10 battalions) advanced, and they were caught in a crossfire and suffered heavy casualties, including both brigade commanders. The attack was aborted, and the British suffered 1,433 casualties, almost all in the two attacking brigades and almost all within a few dozen yards of the start line.


In the aftermath of the attack the French were unwilling to launch another attack until they had dug their way forward and secured a good start line. This took six weeks. The allies had used the distraction of the attack to move forces across the River Chernaya, which precipitated a Russian counterattack in August and a further bombardment (fifth) which lasted for ten days, but was not followed by an attack as French preparations were incomplete.


Third and Final Offensive, 7–9 September 1855.


With the French having dug forward the allies planned to launch another attack, and the plan was set on 3 September. The attack would open with the French 2nd Corps assaulting the right sector, from the Little Redan to the Malakoff with up to 25,000 men. The British would then assault the Great Redan in the centre, and with that taken the French 1st Corps would assault the Flagstaff and Central Bastions.


On 7 September the bombardment opened, and continued until noon of the 8th. The French 1st Corps then launched their attack on the Malakoff and Little Redan, which were initially successful. The signal for the British to begin their assault (the flag of St. George raised over the Mamelon) was then made and the British then assaulted the Great Redan.


The British assault force was drawn from the Light and 2nd Divisions. Each division placed part of a battalion (200 men each) forward as skirmishers and held a brigade divided into two lines (assault and support) of two battalions (all of 500 men). Behind them the other brigade of the division was in reserve, and a final reserve consisting of 1st brigade, Highland Division with 1st brigade, 4th Division attached was behind them. On the left attack were the 1st and 3rd Divisions, and 2nd brigade of the 4th Division. Only the covering battalions, first assault line and half the supporting assault line (10 battalions) were engaged.


The two lead brigades were under the command of Acting Brigadier General Charles Ash Windham (known as the Hero of the Redan) and Brigadier General Horatio Shirley. In the face of devastating Russian fire, Shirley's brigade was driven back by a crossfire from the left, but Windham's brigade stormed the Great Redan and the broke the Vladimirski Regiment. Windham was promoted Major General out of turn for 'his distinguished conduct in having with the greatest intrepidity and coolness headed the column of attack which assaulted the enemy's defences.


Major Augusta Welsford commanded a ladder party in the initial wave the assault on the Great Redan. He crossed a broad open space of 400 metres while against a hail of bullets. He made it to a ditch in front of the work and proceeded to climb one of the ladders which had been placed against the counterscarp. As he rose above the lip of an embrasure at the top, a gun was fired from within which blew his head off. Welsford was highly regarded in his regiment.


The other Nova Scotian officer, William Buck Carthew Augustus Parker also crossed the 400 metres field under fire, successfully scaled the counterscarp, got inside the work, and made a vain attempt to stem the mounting British retreat before a hail of bullets swept him into the ditch.


Windham's brigade had stormed and occupied the Redan, routing the defenders, and the signal (signal rockets fired from the Lancaster Battery) was made to General la Salles, commanding the French 1st Corps, to assault the Flagstaff Bastion (which the British left attack would co-operate with). However, la Salles failed to promptly launch his attack and the guns of the Flagstaff Bastion swept the approaches to the Great Redan, stopping the British supports coming forward. For two hours Windham's men held the Great Redan, and the British infantry put a heavy fire on the Russian reserve line.


The local Russian commander, Colonel Ventsel of the Vladimirski Regiment, was unable to rally his panicked troops, but as senior officer on the ground ordered the Selenginski and Iakutski regiments to make a charge with the bayonet. The British troops occupying the Redan had been fighting for hours and were short on ammunition. With the French on the left not launching their attack, and 3,000 Russians in close order columns coming on with the bayonet. Windham ordered a withdrawal to the ditch in front of the Great Redan. The Selenginski reoccupied the Redan, and repulsed some minor attacks by the British infantry. The French 1st Corps finally launched a faltering attack, but halted it.


The French attacks on the Malakoff and Little Redan and the British attacks on the Great Redan were initially successful, but the geography of the Malakoff (a tower surrounded by a moat) enabled the French to retain possession of the position in spite of heavy Russian counterattacks. The two Redans, being essentially open-backed walls, were not suitable for defence from the rear, and could not be maintained without large numbers. Both the French and the British in these positions could not hold them.


James Simpson, commander of the British Army following the death of Lord Raglan, ordered another assault the next morning by the Highland and 3rd Divisions, but at 2300 hrs the Russians exploded their magazines and retreated from the Great Redan. It was occupied at dawn by the highlanders. The Siege of Sevastopol was over, and the Russian Black Sea Fleet annihilated.


In the first attack (18 June 1855) the British suffered 1,433 casualties, "vis" 155 killed, 1,126 wounded and 152 missing. Around half the wounded were classified as "sightly wounded"


In the second attack the British suffered 2,447 casualties, "vis" 385 killed, 1,886 wounded and 176 missing. The approximately 2/3rds of the wounded were classified as "slightly wounded".


Russian casualties for these actions are conflated with the French attacks that occurred simultaneously. On 18 June the Russians suffered 4,352 casualties (700 killed, 2828 severely wounded, 860 slightly wounded and 14 missing). On 8 September they suffered 11,692 casualties (2,685 killed, 6,064 severely wounded, 1,180 slightly wounded and 1,764 missing). Of these 16,044 casualties suffered in the two joint assaults it is probable about a quarter were suffered in the British sector or 4,000 overall.


Right Attack (15 battalions, ca. 11,000 engaged)


The Left attack and the reserve force of the right attack were not engaged. The support force of 2nd Brigade, Light Division (19th and 88th Foot) and the 95th Foot did not attack.


Memorial to fallen Thomas Edwin Roberts, Royal Welsh Fusileers, Sergeant, of Holywell, North Wales.


The Battle of Balaclava, fought on 25 October 1854 during the Crimean War, was part of the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–55), an Allied attempt to capture the port and fortress of Sevastopol, Russia's principal naval base on the Black Sea. The engagement followed the earlier Allied victory in September at the Battle of the Alma, where the Russian General Menshikov had positioned his army in an attempt to stop the Allies progressing south towards their strategic goal. Alma was the first major encounter fought in the Crimean Peninsula since the Allied landings at Kalamita Bay on 14 September, and was a clear battlefield success; but a tardy pursuit by the Allies failed to gain a decisive victory, allowing the Russians to regroup, recover and prepare their defence.


The Russians split their forces. Defending within the allied siege lines was primarily the Navy manning the considerable static defenses of the city and threatening the allies from without was the mobile Army under General Menshikov.


The Allies decided against a slow assault on Sevastopol and instead prepared for a protracted siege. The British, under the command of Lord Raglan, and the French, under Canrobert, positioned their troops to the south of the port on the Chersonese Peninsula: the French Army occupied the bay of Kamiesch on the west coast whilst the British moved to the southern port of Balaclava. However, this position committed the British to the defence of the right flank of the Allied siege operations, for which Raglan had insufficient troops. Taking advantage of this exposure, the Russian General Liprandi, with some 25,000 men, prepared to attack the defences around Balaclava, hoping to disrupt the supply chain between the British base and their siege lines.


As the Allied siege guns bombarded Sevastopol the Russian reserves were moving to the Crimea. The Russians sought to relieve Sevastopol from bombardment by marching newly arrived reinforcements from the Danubian front. This force of Russian reinforcements would strike at the allies' main port of supply—Balaclava. At the forefront of these reinforcements was the 12th Infantry Division – part of the Russian 4th Corps – under General Pavel Liprandi. This division, consisting of the Azovsky, Dnieper, Ukraine and Odessa regiments, along with four batteries of artillery, had arrived from Bessarabia; by the time the division had reached the Crimea, Menshikov had decided on the plan to use them to attack the Allied rear from Chorgun, and march on Balaclava.


The vulnerability of Balaclava was well known to both sides. Undertaking the siege operations around Sevastopol whilst securing the Allies' eastern flank was stretching the resources of Raglan's dwindling forces – British casualties at the Alma had been high, and many were still suffering from the cholera epidemic; others simply fell sick from exhaustion. With the arrival of further Russian reinforcements, Menshikov's total force in theatre (including 12 Division) numbered around 65,000. The remainder of 4th Corps – 10 and 11 Divisions – were also heading towards the Crimea, but Menshikov, under pressure from Nicholas I to strike back at the Allies, decided not to wait for these troops before beginning the attack.


Recent intelligence received by the British had indicated a major Russian attack was imminent. After a considerable number of false alarms the previous week, however, Raglan failed to act, believing that they were needlessly exhausting his men who were turned out on every report. But this latest intelligence proved accurate, and early on 25 October, just before 05:00, Liprandi's troops of the 'Chorgun Detachment' left their camp and marched off in silence towards the Balaclava valleys.


In accordance with his usual practice Lucan had gone forward at daybreak to inspect the redoubts and outposts, accompanied by his staff: Lord George Paget, Lord William Paulet, and Major Thomas McMahon. As they approached Canrobert's Hill, two signal flags were observed, signifying the approach of the Russians. Paget, commanding officer of the 4th Light Dragoons (and commanding officer of the Light Brigade in Cardigan's absence), later recalled the moment when they realized something was wrong:


"Hello," said Lord William, "there are two flags flying; what does it mean?" "Why, that surely is the signal that the enemy is approaching," said Major McMahon. "Are you quite sure?" we replied. Hardly were the words out of McMahon's mouth, when bang went a cannon from the redoubt in question, fired on the advancing masses of the enemy.


The Russians dash at the Highlanders. The ground flies beneath their horses' feet; gathering speed at every stride, they dash on towards that thin red streak topped with a line of steel.


Meanwhile, the main part of Ryzhov's cavalry remained static on the southern slopes of the Causeway Heights, some 800 yards (~730 m) from Scarlett's Heavy Brigade still moving south-east in the South Valley. The eight squadrons of the Heavy Brigade consisted of two each from the Scots Greys, the 6th Dragoons, 4th Dragoon Guards, and the 5th Dragoon Guards; the brigade's remaining two squadrons from the 1st Royal Dragoons were left in their original position to the west of No.6 redoubt. Although outnumbering the British by two or three to one and having the advantage of the high ground, the Russians seemed shaken by the unexpected presence of Scarlett's cavalry.


10:45. Lord Raglan wishes the cavalry to advance rapidly to the front – follow the enemy and try to prevent the enemy carrying away the guns – Troop Horse Artillery may accompany – French cavalry is on your left. R Airey. Immediate.


Having read the order scribbled down by Airey, Raglan summoned Captain Louis Nolan of the 15th The King's Hussars, Airey's hot-tempered aide-de-camp, to deliver it to Lucan. As he turned his horse to head directly down the escarpment, Raglan called after him, "Tell Lord Lucan the cavalry is to attack immediately." These words sealed the fate of the Light Brigade.


Lucan was puzzled by Raglan's imprecise order. There was no mention of heights – it referred instead to the front – and gone were all references to infantry. He was to try to 'prevent the enemy carrying away the guns' but from his position he could not see any guns being carried away. When Lucan questioned the order an excited Nolan told him he was to attack immediately.


"I know it," said Lucan. "But Lord Raglan will have it. We have no choice but to obey."


The Light Brigade had formed up in two lines. The 13th Light Dragoons, the 17th Lancers, and the 11th Hussars, formed the first line (the latter regiment was soon moved behind the Lancers to reduce the width of the front). Paget commanded the second line formed by the 4th Light Dragoons and the 8th Hussars. Once the brigade had moved off, Lucan would follow with the Heavy Brigade in support.


The Taurida Governorate (, modern spelling , ; , ; , ) or the Government of Taurida, was a historical governorate of the Russian Empire. It included the Crimean Peninsula and the mainland between the lower Dnieper River and the coasts of the Black Sea and Sea of Azov. It was formed after the Taurida Oblast was abolished in 1802 in the course of Paul I's administrative reform of the South-Western territories that had been annexed from the Crimean Khanate. The governorate's centre was the city of Simferopol. The province was named after the ancient Greek name of Crimea - Taurida.


The governorate comprised three counties (uyezds) on the mainland:


and five counties plus two gradonachalstva on the peninsula:


Before 1820 the governorate consisted of seven counties, including Tmutarakan county on the Taman Peninsula on the eastern side of the Kerch Strait. The Yalta and Berdyansk counties formed later. From 1804 to 1829 there also existed the gradonachalstvo of Feodosiya; and in 1914 Yalta county became the gradonachalstvo of Yalta.


In December 1917 the governorate split, with most of its peninsular part forming the Crimean People's Republic (1917-1918), while the rest remained in undefined position including the city of Sevastopol which remained the main naval base of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Republic. The mainland counties were declared part of the Ukrainian People's Republic, yet remained under effective of jurisdiction of the Taurida Governorate.


On the Third Universal of the Tsentralna Rada of the Ukrainian People's Republic proclaimed the territory of the Ukrainian Republic as comprising: Volyn Governorate, Kiev Governorate, Podolie Governorate, Chernigov Governorate, Poltava Governorate, Kharkov Governorate, Yekaterinoslav Governorate, Kherson Governorate and Taurida Governorate (not including Crimea).


After occupation of Ukraine by Bolsheviks during the Ukrainian–Soviet War, the Taurida Governorate became finally split between Russian soviet republics of the Donetsk-Krivoi Rog Soviet Republic and Taurida Socialist Republic of Soviets.


The governorate bordered Yekaterinoslav Governorate and Kherson Governorate to its north. The Strait of Kerch bordered the "Free lands of the Don Cossacks". It has natural borders, being surrounded by the waters of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.


The mainland and the peninsular parts of the region differ significantly.


The total area of the governorate was of which the mainland portion consisted of and is largely black earth steppe land. The population of the whole region was 1,634,700 in 1906. At that time, the mainland part of the governorate was mostly populated by Ukrainians and Russians but had significant ethnic minorities of Germans, Bulgarians, Armenians and Jews, while major ethnic groups of the Crimean peninsula were Crimean Tatars and Russians with German, Greek, Poles, Armenian, and Karaim minorities. Major urban centres were Simferopol, Sevastopol, Theodosia, Bakhchisaray, and Yalta in Crimea, and Aleshki, Berdyansk, and Melitopol on the mainland.


In 1897 289,316 people lived in the cities, constituting 19.98% of the total population. The ethnicities of the urban population were Russians (49.1%), Tatars (17.16%), and Jews (11.84%), with only 31 people living in cities who chose not to disclose their identity.


In 1783, the Khanate of Crimea was annexed by Catherine the Great’s Russia. Soon after this the Taurida Oblast was established. During the reign of Paul I the oblast was abolished, but soon (in 1802) re-established as a governorate (guberniya). It was a part of the Russian Empire until the Russian Revolution of 1918.


Following the 1917 October Revolution, the ethnic Tatar government proclaimed the Crimean People's Republic on December 13, 1917, which was the first Muslim Democratic state. The Tatar republic covered the peninsular portion of the former governorate, while its northern counties ended up temporarily under jurisdiction of the Yekaterinoslav Governorate. However neither Ukraine nor the Crimea managed to hold on to their territories and were overrun by Bolshevik Red Guards in the winter of 1917-18. Briefly in early 1918 the bolsheviks split the governorate territories between the Taurida Soviet Socialist Republic and the Donetsk-Krivoi Rog Soviet Republic before being overrun by the forces of the Ukrainian People's Republic with military assistance from the German Empire.


Berdyansky Uyezd () was one of the subdivisions of the Taurida Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the northeastern part of the governorate. Its administrative centre was Berdyansk.


At the time of the Russian Empire Census of 1897, Berdyansky Uyezd had a population of 304,718. Of these, 58.8% spoke Ukrainian, 18.1% Russian, 10.4% Bulgarian, 7.8% German, 2.9% Yiddish, 0.5% Moldovan or Romanian, 0.4% Belarusian, 0.3% Tatar, 0.2% Greek, 0.1% Turkish, 0.1% Mordvin, 0.1% Polish, 0.1% Armenian and 0.1% Italian as their native language.


The Battle of the Chernaya (also Tchernaïa; Russian: Сражение у Черной речки, Сражение у реки Черной, literally: Battle of the Black River) was a battle by the Chyornaya River fought during the Crimean War on August 16, 1855. The battle was fought between Russian troops and a coalition of French, Sardinian and Ottoman troops. The Chyornaya River is on the outskirts of Sevastopol. The battle ended in a Russian retreat and a victory for the French, Sardinians and Turks.


58,000 Russian troops in two army corps under Prince Michael Gorchakov fought against 28,000 French and Sardinian troops under French General Aimable Pélissier and Italian General Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora. Although the British correspondents were amazed at the courageousness and impetuosity of their attack, the assault of the Russian army was handicapped by poor organization and lack of experienced soldiers which, due to the absolute priority of reinforcing and holding Sevastopol with any available regular troops, forced their corps to consist mostly of militia.


In the cover of the morning fog, the Russians advanced towards Traktir Bridge with 47,000 infantry, 10,000 cavalry and 270 cannon under command of General Pavel Liprandi on the left and General N. A. Read on the right. The two generals had been ordered by Gorchakov not to cross the river until given explicit orders. Annoyed that things weren’t happening fast enough, Gorchakov sent a note to his generals with the words "Let's start it." By this, Gorchakov only meant that the Russians should start to deploy their forces. Unfortunately his generals interpreted his words as his order to attack and they acted accordingly, although reserve forces were still en route to the battlefield.


The bravery of Sardinian troops and the French soldiers of the 50th, 82nd, 95th, 97th of the line; the 19th Foot Chasseurs; and the 2nd and 3rd Zouaves was especially noted. The Italian troops' valiant effort at the battle was a contributing factor to their inclusion at the negotiation tables at the end of the war; it was there that the Kingdom of Sardinia began looking for the aid of other European nations towards the Unification of Italy.


Russian Count Leo Tolstoy was a participant in the Battle of the Chernaya River. He witnessed as the Russians crossed the river and started up the hillside in the morning sunlight. Tolstoy saw Russian soldiers being killed in clusters as shells exploded around them. Before the morning was over, the Russians were forced to retreat. They left thousands of their dead comrades behind. Tolstoy was depressed and angered by the slaughter. He believed much of it was due to incompetent generals and staff. Tolstoy vented his anger by composing a , an approximate translation of which reads:


<br>This humorous song soon gained widespread popularity among the Russian soldiers, and is the only piece of verse Tolstoy is known to have written. The stanza from Tolstoy's song "Гладко вписано в бумаге, Да забыли про овраги" ("It was smoothly written into the papers / But it was forgotten about the ravines") entered as a catch phrase, in a slightly modified form "Гладко было на бумаге..." ("It was


The battle was a disaster for the Russians. Even with numerical superiority, the Russians had managed to lose the battle and suffer almost five times as many casualties as the Allies. Tsar Alexander had hoped for a Russian victory so that he could negotiate a peace with favorable terms. That hope was now lost. As a result of the slaughter that took place at the battle, the Russian soldiers had lost their trust in the Russian commanders and it was now only a question of time before the Russian army would be forced to surrender Sevastopol.


Sevastopol (Russian, Ukrainian: Севастополь; ) is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Sevastopol has been administered as a federal city of the Russian Federation. Nevertheless, Ukraine and a majority of the United Nations member countries continue to regard Sevastopol as a city with special status within Ukraine. The city has a Russian majority population, with a substantial minority of Ukrainians.


Sevastopol has a population of 509,992 (as of January 2021) concentrated mostly near the Sevastopol Bay and surrounding areas. The location and navigability of the city's harbors have made Sevastopol a strategically important port and naval base throughout history. The city has been a home to the Russian Black Sea Fleet, which is why it was considered a separate city in Crimea of significant military importance and was once operated by the Soviet Union as a closed city.


Although relatively small at , Sevastopol's unique naval and maritime features have been the basis for a robust economy. The city enjoys mild winters and moderate warm summers, characteristics that help make it a popular seaside resort and tourist destination, mainly for visitors from the former Soviet republics. The city is also an important centre for marine biology research. In particular, the military has studied and trained dolphins in the city for military use since the end of World War II.


The name of Sevastopolis was originally chosen in the same etymological trend as other cities in the Crimean peninsula; it was intended to express its ancient Greek origins. It is a compound of the Greek adjective, ("sebastos", 'venerable', ) and the noun ("pólis") ('city'). is the traditional Greek equivalent (Sebastian) of the Roman honorific "Augustus", originally given to the first emperor of the Roman Empire, Augustus and later awarded as a title to his successors.


Despite its Greek origin, the name is not from Ancient Greek times. The city was probably named after Empress ("Augusta") Catherine II of the Russian Empire who founded Sevastopol in 1783. She visited the city in 1787, accompanied by Joseph II, the Emperor of Austria, and other foreign dignitaries.


In the west of the city, there are well-preserved ruins of the ancient Greek port city of Chersonesos, founded in the 5th century BC by settlers from Heraclea Pontica. This name means "peninsula", reflecting its immediate location. It is not related to the ancient Greek name for the Crimean Peninsula as a whole: "Chersonēsos Taurikē" ("the Taurian Peninsula").


The name of the city is spelled as:


In the 6th century BC, a Greek colony was established in the area of the modern-day city. The Greek city of Chersonesus existed for almost two thousand years, first as an independent democracy and later as part of the Bosporan Kingdom. In the 13th and 14th centuries, it was sacked by the Golden Horde several times and was finally totally abandoned. The modern day city of Sevastopol has no connection to the ancient and medieval Greek city, but the ruins are a popular tourist attraction located on the outskirts of the city.


One of the most notable events involving the city is the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–55) carried out by the British, French, Piedmontese, and Turkish troops during the Crimean War, which lasted for 11 months. Despite its efforts, the Russian army had to leave its stronghold and evacuate over a pontoon bridge to the north shore of the inlet. The Russians chose to sink their entire fleet to prevent it from falling into the hands of the enemy and at the same time to block the entrance of the Western ships into the inlet. When the enemy troops entered Sevastopol, they were faced with the ruins of a formerly glorious city.


A panorama of the siege originally was created by Franz Roubaud. After its destruction in 1942 during World War II, it was restored and is currently housed in a specially constructed circular building in the city. It portrays the situation at the height of the siege, on 18 June 1855.


During the Soviet era, Sevastopol became a so-called "closed city". This meant that any non-residents had to apply to the authorities for a temporary permit to visit the city.


On 29 October 1948, the Presidium of Supreme Council of the Russian SFSR issued a "ukase" (order) which confirmed the special status of the city. Soviet academic publications since 1954, including the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, indicated that Sevastopol, Crimean Oblast was part of the Ukrainian SSR ("Great Soviet Encyclopedia" 1976, Vol.23. pp 104).


In 1954, under Nikita Khrushchev, both Sevastopol and the remainder of the Crimean peninsula were administratively transferred from being territories within the Russian SFSR to being territories administered by the Ukrainian SSR. Administratively, Sevastopol was a municipality excluded from the adjacent Crimean Oblast. The territory of the municipality was 863.5 km2 and it was further subdivided into four raions (districts). Besides the City of Sevastopol proper, it also included two towns—Balaklava (having had no status until 1957), Inkerman, urban-type settlement Kacha, and 29 villages.


At the 1955 Ukrainian parliamentary elections on 27 February, Sevastopol was split into two electoral districts, Stalinsky and Korabelny (initially requested three Stalinsky, Korabelny, and Nakhimovsky). Eventually, Sevastopol received two people's deputies of the Ukrainian SSR elected to the Verkhovna Rada A. Korovchenko and M. Kulakov.


In 1957, the town of Balaklava was incorporated into Sevastopol.


On 10 July 1993, the Russian parliament passed a resolution declaring Sevastopol to be "a federal Russian city". At the time, many supporters of the president, Boris Yeltsin, had ceased taking part in the Parliament's work. On 20 July 1993 the United Nations Security Council denounced the decision of the Russia parliament. According to Anatoliy Zlenko, it was for the first time that the council had to review actions and come up with qualification of them for a legislative body.


On 14 April 1993, the Presidium of the Crimean Parliament called for the creation of the presidential post of the Crimean Republic. A week later, the Russian deputy, Valentin Agafonov, stated that Russia was ready to supervise the referendum on Crimean independence and include the republic as a separate entity in the CIS. On 28 July 1993, one of the leaders of the Russian Society of Crimea, Viktor Prusakov, stated that his organisation was ready for an armed mutiny and establishment of the Russian administration in Sevastopol.


In September, the commander of the joint Russian-Ukrainian Black Sea Fleet, , accused Ukraine of converting some of his fleet and conducting an armed assault on his personnel, and threatened to take countermeasures of placing the fleet on alert. (In June 1992, the Russian president Boris Yeltsin and the Ukrainian president Leonid Kravchuk had agreed to divide the former-Soviet Black Sea Fleet between Russia and Ukraine. Eduard Baltin had been appointed commander of the Black Sea Fleet by Yeltsin and Kravchuk on 15 January 1993.)


In May 1997, Russia and Ukraine signed the Peace and Friendship Treaty, ruling out Moscow's territorial claims to Ukraine. A separate agreement established the terms of a long-term lease of land, facilities, and resources in Sevastopol and the Crimea by Russia.


The ex-Soviet Black Sea Fleet and its facilities were divided between Russia's Black Sea Fleet and the Ukrainian Naval Forces. The two navies co-used some of the city's harbours and piers, while others were demilitarised or used by either country. Sevastopol remained the location of the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters with the Ukrainian Naval Forces Headquarters also in the city. A judicial row periodically continued over the naval hydrographic infrastructure both in Sevastopol and on the Crimean coast (especially lighthouses historically maintained by the Soviet or Russian Navy and also used for civil navigation support).


As in the rest of the Crimea, Russian remained the predominant language of the city, although following the independence of Ukraine there were some attempts at Ukrainisation with very little success. The Russian society in general and even some outspoken government representatives never accepted the loss of Sevastopol and tended to regard it as temporarily separated from the homeland.


In July 2009, the chairman of the Sevastopol city council, Valeriy Saratov (Party of Regions) stated that Ukraine should increase the amount of compensation it is paying to the city of Sevastopol for hosting the foreign Russian Black Sea Fleet, instead of requesting such obligations from the Russian government and the Russian Ministry of Defense in particular.


On 27 April 2010, Russia and Ukraine ratified the Russian Ukrainian Naval Base for Gas treaty, extending the Russian Navy's lease of Crimean facilities for 25 years after 2017 (through 2042) with an option to prolong the lease in five-year extensions. The ratification process in the Ukrainian parliament encountered stiff opposition and erupted into a brawl in the parliament chamber. Eventually, the treaty was ratified by a 52% majority vote—236 of 450. The Russian Duma ratified the treaty by a 98% majority (without incident).


On February, 23 2014, a massive rally took place in Nakhimov Square. Sevastopolians declared their disagreement with the removal of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, their desire for self-govermnent (in Ukrainian times, the Mayor of the city was appointed by Ukrainian authorities without any elections), and their will to be part of Russia.


Sevastopol was annexed by Russia in 2014 with the rest of Crimea and since then has been administered as the federal city of Sevastopol.


The city of Sevastopol is located at the southwestern tip of the Crimean peninsula in a headland known as Heracles peninsula on a coast of the Black Sea. The city is designated a special city-region of Ukraine which besides the city itself includes several of its outlying settlements. The city itself is concentrated mostly at the western portion of the region and around the long Bay of Sevastopol. This bay is a ria, a river canyon drowned by Holocene sea-level rise, and the outlet of Chorna River. Away in a remote location southeast of Sevastopol is located the former city of Balaklava (since 1957 incorporated within Sevastopol), the bay of which in Soviet times served as a main port for the Soviet diesel-powered submarines.


The coastline of the region is mostly rocky, in a series of smaller bays, a great number of which are located within the Bay of Sevastopol. The biggest of them are the Southern Bay (within Bay of Sevastopol), the Archer Bay, a gulf complex that consists of the Deergrass Bay, the Bay of Cossack, the Salty Bay, and many others. There are over thirty bays in the immediate region.


Through the region flow three rivers: the Belbek, Chorna, and Kacha. All three mountain chains of Crimean mountains are represented in Sevastopol, the southern chain by the Balaklava Highlands, the inner chain by the Mekenziev Mountains, and the outer chain by the Kara-Tau Upland (Black Mountain).


Sevastopol has a semi-arid climate according to the (Köppen climate classification: "Cfa"), closely bordering on a humid subtropical climate. Due to the summer mean straddling it is also bordering on a four-season oceanic climate, with cool winters and warm to hot summers.


The average yearly temperature is during the day and around at night. In the coldest months, January and February, the average temperature is during the day and around at night. In the warmest months, July and August, the average temperature is around during the day and around at night. Generally, summer/holiday season lasts 5 months, from around mid-May and into September, with the temperature often reaching or more in the first half of October.


The average annual temperature of the sea is , ranging from in February to in August. From June to September, the average sea temperature is greater than . In the second half of May and first half of October; the average sea temperature is about . The average rainfall is about per year. There are about 2,345 hours of sunshine duration per year.


On 18 March 2014, the Kremlin announced that Sevastopol would become the third federal city in the Russian Federation, the two others being Moscow and St. Petersburg.


The executive power of Sevastopol is exercised by the Sevastopol City State Administration led by a chairman. Since April 2014 the executive power is held by the Government of Sevastopol, led by the City Governor.


Before 2014, the Sevastopol City Council was the legislature of Sevastopol and the mayor of Sevastopol was appointed by the Ukrainian central government. However, during the 2014 Crimean crisis, the pro-Russian City Council threw its support behind Russian citizen Alexei Chaly as the "people's mayor" and said it would not recognise orders from Kyiv.


After the Annexation of Crimea to the Russian Federation, the Legislative Assembly of Sevastopol replaced the City Council and the mayor is appointed by the legislative branch on the nomination of the Russian President, and officially the mayor is called the Governor of Sevastopol City.


Sevastopol is administratively divided into four districts.


Within the Russian municipal framework, the territory of the federal city of Sevastopol is divided into nine municipal okrugs and the Town of Inkerman. While individual municipal divisions are contained within the borders of the administrative districts, they are not otherwise related to the administrative districts.


Apart from navy-related civil facilities, Sevastopol hosts some other notable industries. An example is Stroitel, one of the leading plastic manufacturers in Russia.


The city received millions of US Dollars in compensation for hosting the Russian Black Sea Fleet from the Russian and the Ukrainian government.


There are seven types of transport in Sevastopol:


Sevastopol Shipyard comprises three facilities that together repair, modernise, and re-equip Russian Naval ships and submarines. The Sevastopol International Airport is used as a military aerodrome at the moment and being reconstructed to be used by international airlines.


Sevastopol maintains a large port facility in the Bay of Sevastopol and in smaller bays around the Heracles peninsula. The port handles traffic from passengers (local transportation and cruise), cargo, and commercial fishing. The port infrastructure is fully integrated with the city of Sevastopol and naval bases of the Black Sea Fleet.


Due to its military history, most streets in the city are named after Russian and Soviet military heroes. There are hundreds of monuments and plaques in various parts of Sevastopol commemorating its military past.


The population of Sevastopol proper is 443,211 (01.01.19), making it the largest in the Crimean Peninsula. The city's agglomeration has about 600,000 people (2015). According to the Ukrainian National Census, 2001, the ethnic groups of Sevastopol include Russians (71.6%), Ukrainians (22.4%), Belarusians (1.6%), Tatars (0.7%), Crimean Tatars (0.5%), Armenians (0.3%), Jews (0.3%), Moldovans (0.2%), and Azerbaijanis (0.2%).


There are many historical buildings in the central and eastern parts of the city and Balaklava, some of which are architectural monuments. The Western districts have modern architecture. More recently, numerous skyscrapers have been built. Balaklava Bayfront Plaza (on hold), currently under construction, will be one of the tallest buildings in Ukraine, at with 43 floors.


After the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea the city's monument to Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny was removed and handed over to Kharkiv.


The naval Battle of Kerch Strait (also known as Battle of Yenikale, by the old Turkish name of the strait near Kerch) took place on 19 July 1790 near Kerch, Crimea, was a victory for Imperial Russia over the Ottoman Empire during the Russo-Turkish War, 1787-1792.


"Rozhdestvo Christovo" 84 (flag of Vice-Admiral Fyodor Ushakov)


"Mukaddeme-i Nusret" 74 (flag of Kapudane Said Bey)


"Bahr-i Zafer" 72 (flag of Kapudan Pasha Giritli Hüseyin)


"Melik-i Bahri" 72 (flag of Patrona Bey)


"Feyz-i Hüda" 66 (flag of Riyale Bey)


23 small craft (kırlangıç, pergende (brigantine) and şehtiye (xebec) type ships)


These battles took place during the Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774, on 20 June and 9 July (Old Style) 1774 south of Kerch, Ukraine.


On 20 June an Ottoman force of 5 ships of the line, 9 frigates and 26 galleys and xebecs surprised a Russian force, under Vice-Admiral Senyavin, of 3 frigates, 4 16-gun vessels, 2 bombs and 3 small craft and tried to cut it off. The Russians anchored just outside the Kerch Strait and sailed toward Kerch the next day.


On 9 July, the Ottomans, needing to destroy the Russian ships so their land army could cross the Kerch Strait, attacked, but abandoned the effort after it was found that the Russian bombs had a greater range. The Ottoman force that day consisted of 6 battleships, 7 frigates, 1 bomb and 17 galleys and xebecs.


The de-Tatarization of Crimea (, ) refers to the Soviet and Russian efforts to remove traces of the indigenous Crimean Tatar presence from the peninsula. De-Tatarization has manifested in various ways throughout history, from smaller measures such as the burning of Crimean Tatar books in the 1920s to the full-scale deportation and exile of Crimean Tatars in 1944.


The vast majority of districts, raions, villages, and geographic features in Crimea bearing Crimean Tatar names were given Slavic names shortly after the deportation of the Tatars per a decree of the Crimean Regional Committee mandating such renaming. Most places in Crimea still bear the post-deportation names, many redundant, that were imposed in the 1940s to remove traces of Qirim Tatarlik. Very few localities Bakhchysarai, Dzhankoy, , Alushta, Alupka, and Saky were spared renaming.


Soviet party officials in Crimea indoctrinated the Slavic population of Crimea with Tatarophobia, depicting Crimean Tatars as "traitors", "bourgeoisie", or "counter-revolutionaries", and falsely implying that they were "Mongols" with no historical connection to the Crimean peninsula (despite their Greek, Italian, Armenian, and Gothic roots.) A 1948 conference in Crimea was dedicated to promoting and sharing anti-Crimean-Tatar sentiments.


The attempts to paint Amet-khan Sultan as a Dagestani contrary to his Crimean origins has faced backlash from the Crimean Tatar community. Despite the flying ace being born in Crimea to a Tatar mother and always identifying himself as Tatar, the Russian Federation named a Dagestani Airport after him while naming Crimea's main airport after Ivan Aivazovsky instead, ignoring numerous petitions from the Crimean Tatar community requesting that the airport bearing Amet-khan's name be in his homeland.


De Ghisolfi (also known as de Guizolfi, de Gisolfi, Guigursis, Guilgursis and Giexulfis) was the name of a Genoese-Jewish family prominent in the late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance.


In 1419, the Genoese Jew Simeone de Ghisolfi married a reigning princess of the municipality of Tmutarakan on the Taman Peninsula named Bikhakhanim, and took possession of this area, most likely centered on the town of Matrega. The de Ghisolfi clan ruled this principality as a protectorate of the Genoese consulate of Gazaria for much of the 15th century.


In 1453, the Republic of Genoa ceded its Crimean possessions to the Bank of St. George, a private enterprise to which it was heavily in debt. The Ghisolfi family continued to rule Matrega and the surrounding region on behalf of the Bank. Through such intermediaries as Khozi Kokos, they maintained relations with the rulers of Muscovy and other Russian principalities.


Notwithstanding the fact that the Turks had captured Tana (Azov) and most of the settlements in Gazaria, Ghisolfi continued the war from Matrice, but with only a small measure of success. Learning that he had expressed a desire to come to Russia, and glad of an opportunity to ally with the Circassians and other peoples resisting Ottoman incursions, Ivan III of Muscovy directed Prince Nozdrevaty, his ambassador to the Crimean Tatar khan Meñli I Giray, to forward a message "sealed with the gold seal" to Zacharias the Jew, at Caffa. This message, dated March 14, 1484, and forwarded by Luka and Prince Vasili, both court dignitaries, reads as follows:


From subsequent events, it is evident that Ghisolfi entered the service of the khan, for further negotiations were carried on, and in April 1500, Ivan, instructing his ambassador, refers to Ghisolfi as "Zacharias the Fryazin," who had lived in Circassia and is now in the service of Meñli I Giray, but who never reached Russia."


Ivan's repeated invitations to Ghisolfi seem to indicate that he hoped the latter's services would be valuable to him in extending Russian influence on the Black Sea. Yet it is strange that during a period of more than eighteen years Ghisolfi did not succeed in reaching Russia. Whether the fact that Ghisolfi was a Jew had anything to do with the impediments put in his way, it is difficult to ascertain, for no mention of him is to be found in Jewish writings. The different spellings of Zachariah's name in Italian and Russian documents—"Guizolfi," "Guigursis," and "Guilgursis"—may be attributed to errors of the Russian scribes.


The Black Sea bumping incident of 12 February 1988 occurred when American cruiser tried to exercise the right of innocent passage through Soviet territorial waters in the Black Sea during the Cold War. The cruiser was bumped by the Soviet frigate "Bezzavetny" with the intention of pushing "Yorktown" into international waters. This incident also involved the destroyer , sailing in company with USS "Yorktown" and claiming the right of innocent passage, which was intentionally shouldered by a Soviet "SKR-6". "Yorktown" reported minor damage to its hull, with no holing or risk of flooding. "Caron" was undamaged.


At the time, the Soviet Union recognized the right of innocent passage for warships in its territorial waters solely in designated sea lanes. The United States believed that there was no legal basis for a coastal nation to limit warship transits to sea lanes only. Subsequently, the U.S. Department of State found that the Russian-language text of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Article 22, paragraph 1 allowed the coastal state to regulate the right of innocent passage whenever necessary, while the English-language text did not. Following the incident, the Soviet Union expressed a commitment to resolve the issue of innocent passage in Soviet territorial waters.


In 1979, the United States launched an informal program to promote the "rights and freedoms of navigation and overflight guaranteed to all nations under international law". The US government said that it initiated the program because some countries were beginning to assert jurisdictional boundaries beyond traditional claims. The United States wished to stop this and, it said, diplomatic protests had seemed to be ineffective. A new customary international law could emerge if nations avoided operating their ships and aircraft in the disputed areas, and the US saw this as undesirable.


In the 1980s, US warships were passing through the straits from the Mediterranean into the Black Sea two or three times a year to "show the flag" and to claim the right of innocent passage in the coastal states. Aside from the right of free passage, US naval activity in the Black Sea served the purpose of upholding US rights under the 1936 Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits. According to a US government official, "the Dardanelles and the Bosporus form an international waterway" under that convention and "if you don't periodically reaffirm your rights you find that they're hard to revive".


Meanwhile, "The Rules of Navigation and Sojourn of Foreign Warships in the Territorial Waters and Internal Waters and Ports of the USSR", enacted by the Soviet Council of Ministers in 1983, acknowledged the right of innocent passage of foreign warships only in restricted areas of Soviet territorial waters in the Baltic, Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan; no sea lanes for innocent passage in the Black Sea were designated. Soviet vessels and aircraft were routinely dispatched to observe US warships there. In the 1980s, the Soviet Union viewed the US presence in the Black Sea as an attempt to undermine improving Soviet–American relations.


After the 1986 incident in the Black Sea, also involving USS "Yorktown" and USS "Caron", a meeting of the Soviet Defence Council was held later in the same year. At the meeting, the Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Navy Vladimir Chernavin suggested to Mikhail Gorbachev, Defense Minister Sergey Sokolov, Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze, and other senior officials that intruding foreign warships could be driven from Soviet waters by several means, including bumping.


First, "Caron" was approached by the frigate "SKR-6", and three minutes later, "Yorktown" was approached by the frigate "Bezzavetnyy", while Tupolev Tu-16 bombers monitored the vessels' movements. As the US warships clipped a corner of the Soviet territorial waters, they were bumped. At 10:02 a.m, local time, at , from the coast, "SKR-6" bumped the port side aft of "Caron" at frame about from the bow. "Caron" received superficial scraping of paint, with no personnel injuries. "Bezzavetnyy", having bumped "Yorktown", was ordered to move away and not to contact her again.


Both US warships stayed on even course after the incident. "Caron" left Soviet territorial waters at 11:50 a.m. local time without further incident.


Both US warships reported the incident to the commander-in-chief of United States Naval Forces Europe. "Caron" reported that, at 13:20 local time, it was informed on channel 16 VHF by "Bezzavetnyy": "Soviet ships have orders to prevent violation of territorial waters, extreme measure is to strike your ship with one of ours." The reply of "Caron" was "I am engaged in innocent passage consistent with international law." "Yorktown", in its report stated that on 9:56, local time, it was contacted by "Bezzavetnyy" via channel 16 and told to leave Soviet territorial waters or "our ship is going to strike on yours." Then, according to the report, "Bezzavetnyy" came alongside port side of "Yorktown" at 10:03 and bumped it by turning into the ship.


The starboard anchor of "Bezzavetnyy" was torn away. Two Harpoon missile canisters on "Yorktown" sustained damage when "Bezzavetnyy"s bullnose passed down port quarter. "Bezzavetnyy" then cleared to port and took station off the port beam of "Yorktown". "Bezzavetnyy" required a minor repair.


The Soviet Ministry of Defense issued a statement blaming the U.S. warships for ignoring the "warning signals of Soviet border guard ships" and for "dangerously maneuvering in Soviet waters". The incident also drew a diplomatic protest from the U.S. government.


These incidents were covered in the annual review of compliance with the US/Soviet Agreement On the Prevention of Incidents On and Over the High Seas signed on 25 May 1972.


On 18 March 2014, a Ukrainian soldier and the member of quasi "Crimean self-defense forces" were killed in the first case of bloodshed during the Russian military intervention in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation.


After the attack, the Crimean interior ministry stated that a militant from Right Sector had been detained, according to Russian media Gazeta.ru. Right Sector had previously stated (on February 27, 2014) that it did not have any intention to go to Crimea. On March 20, Crimean prosecution denied that the detention had happened.


None of the accounts of this event could be verified independently. The Ukrainian and the Crimean authorities provided conflicting reports of the event. The two casualties had a joint funeral attended by both Crimean and Ukrainian authorities. The event continues to be under investigation by both the Crimean authorities and the Ukrainian military.


On March 18, 2014, at 3 p.m, 15 masked gunmen attired in Russian uniforms without insignia, stormed the 13th Photogrammetric Center of the Central Military-Topographic and Navigation Administration in Simferopol, Crimea. The base was administered by Ukrainian soldiers and had been completely surrounded by pro-Russian and Crimean Self-Defense troops since 13 March. Pro-Russian forces demanded that the garrison surrender the base or otherwise they will take the center with force.


Although it is unclear how the incident initially began, reports emerged of a pro-Russian self-defense member attempting to scale a wall into the base compound, and being told to get back by Ukrainian guards. The argument escalated into live gunfire being exchanged by both sides and the storming of the base itself. However, civilian testimonies indicated seeing self-defense troops and militiamen preparing for a possible storming of the base prior any confrontation.


Soldier Serhiy Kokurin, a Ukrainian junior officer manning a watchtower overseeing a vehicle pool at the base, was fatally injured in the neck during the shoot-out. A second Ukrainian serviceman was shot in the neck and evacuated by several ambulances. The ambulances were granted entrance to the scene by self-defense troops, who sealed off the base to journalists. This death marked the first military fatality in the Russian takeover of Crimea. In addition to the officer, an ethnic Russian volunteer was reported killed per Crimean authorities, though it was unclear if he was killed by resisting Ukrainian troops or by accidental friendly fire (both were reported).


The storming followed with the takeover of the park located within the base's compound and the Ukrainian command center. According to civilians and journalists at the scene, a total of 15 unmarked soldiers, armed with shotguns and AK-47s, participated in the assault, supported by two military vehicles bearing the Russian flag. A Ukrainian soldier on patrol at the park was beaten by self-defense soldiers with a pair of iron rods during the capture. The soldier's condition was reported as serious, according to military accounts.


Shooting continued until the Ukrainian commander, Colonel Andriy Andryushyn, was captured. He was taken hostage, along with several other soldiers, in order to gain entry into the base's nautical building, where the remaining Ukrainian personnel had barricaded themselves on the second floor, refusing to surrender. The Ukrainian commander was interrogated by Russian troops, and allegedly declared his defection to the "People of Crimea" afterwards.


Negotiations over the surrender of the nautical building, and the Ukrainian troops inside, continued until late Tuesday evening, when talks were met over their surrender. A total of 18 remaining Ukrainian soldiers were detained and placed under arrest by gunmen. The soldiers were placed in rows and had all identification marks, weapons, and money confiscated at the behest of Crimean police. By March 24, the remaining Ukrainian troops who had been captured during the altercation were freed, unharmed.


Ukrainian interim prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk accused Russia of a war crime over the incident. "Today, Russian soldiers began shooting at Ukrainian servicemen and this is a war crime without any expiry under a statute of limitations." Acting Ukrainian president Oleksandr Turchynov suggested that the Russian annexation of Crimea was moving from a political phase to a military phase, following the announcement of the death of a servicemen. He issued orders on the night of 18 March, allowing Ukrainian soldiers to use their weapons to defend themselves. The Ukrainian government released a statement declaring that the steps Russia was reminiscent to those taken by Nazi Germany and its annexations of territories before the start of World War 2.


The Treaty on Accession of the Republic of Crimea to Russia was signed on the same day by Vladimir Putin and the self-declared Crimean republic, formally joining the independent Republic of Crimea to the Russian Federation as two federal subjects - the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol.


British prime minister David Cameron said: "The steps taken by President Putin today to attempt to annexe Crimea to Russia are in flagrant breach of international law and send a chilling message across the continent of Europe. Russia will face more serious consequences and I will push European leaders to agree further EU measures."


On March 19, 2014 Russian media, citing Crimean police, reported that authorities had detained a 17-year-old nationalist Right Sector marksman from Western Ukraine in connection to the killings. Sergey Aksyonov, de facto Head of Crimea, confirmed it in Twitter. Later, however, Crimean prosecutors denied detaining any gunmen, according to Interfax. "The information on the shooter's detention has not been confirmed. It is untrue. Unfortunately, no one has been detained yet," Natalia Boyarkina, press officer for the Crimean prosecutors, told Interfax-Ukraine on March 20.


Igor Strelkov, the commander of pro-Russian forces in the War in Donbass in 2014, admitted in his interview he gave on November 20, 2014, he was in charge of the Center's assault.


The Crimean Prosecutor General Natalia Poklonskaya investigated the incident.


The day after the incident, Poklonskaya reported that pre-trial investigation services had determined the following:


Several unarmed officials of the Russian Defense Ministry came to the Ukrainian military base to discuss cartography issues. This meeting had been agreed upon by both the base's Commander and Kyiv. While they were inside the base, Crimean self-defense forces were shot outside the base.


A series of shots were fired both at Ukrainian soldiers and members of Crimean self-defence forces. There were victims on both sides: a Cossack self-defense soldier was killed, and another was injured. One Ukrainian soldier from the military base was killed and another was injured.


At the time of Poklonskaya's initial statement, the exact position and number of shooters were unknown.


The scene was examined by six investigation groups, including criminologists, detectives from the Crimean Republic attorney office, detectives from the main department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs [of Ukraine or Russia?], and members of related departments. Poklonskaya stated that according to these experts, the incident was very similar to the snipers' attacks on Maidan Nezalezhnosti, Kyiv's central square, from February 18 to 21, 2014. Their goal was allegedly to provoke conflict between soldiers of Ukraine and the Crimean Republic.


Several expert examinations were completed, including forensic medical examinations. Ballistic examinations were continuing, along with witness interviews.


Meir Ashkenazi was a sixteenth-century Crimean Jew.


Anti-NATO protests (including one riot) took place in the Ukrainian port city of Feodosia from late May to early June 2006, partially disrupting a joint Ukrainian-U.S. military exercise, which was canceled 20 July 2006.


The military Ukraine-NATO Partnership for Peace military exercise "Sea Breeze 2006" exercise (in Crimea) was scheduled to take place in Ukraine starting 17 July 2006. Its aim was to "simulate the defence of a peninsula caught between a totalitarian state and a democratic one." "Sea Breeze" manoeuvres had been held annually since 1997. Another British-Ukrainian war-game called "Tight Knot" was scheduled to start on 14 June 2006 (near Mykolaiv).


On 4 June 2006, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko signed a decree on preparations of the two war-games. The approval for the exercises by the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) was still pending early June 2006 because after the parliamentary election of March 2006 it resumed its work on 7 June 2006. In February 2006 the Verkhovna Rada elected before the 2006 election rejected a presidential bill on allowing foreign troops to take part in the maneuvers planned for 2006. The Verkhovna Rada was due to vote on the same bill on 7 June 2006, but decided to adjourn until 14 June.


On 6 June 2006 the Crimean legislature declared Crimea a "NATO-free territory".


On 27 May 2006 the United States (U.S.) cargo ship "Advantage" anchored in Feodosia, bringing what Ukrainian Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko described as U.S. "technical aid." Unarmed seamen offloaded construction materials to build barracks for Ukrainian sailors at a training range near the town of Stary Krym, not far from Feodosia. Two days later, Feodosia residents, mobilized by local chapters of the Party of Regions, the Nataliya Vitrenko Bloc, and the Russian Community of Crimea, began to picket the port, displaying anti-NATO slogans written in Russian and blocking U.S. cargo from getting to its destination.


Reportedly the group of protesters rarely consisted of more than a few hundred demonstrators. They accused NATO and the United States of seeking a foothold in Ukraine. The Ukrainian defense ministry stated 2 June 2006 that the planned exercises were not connected with NATO.


On 5 June 2006, Serhiy Yevtushenko, an advisor to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, was stopped at the Moscow airport and sent back to Ukraine. The following day, Russian Duma vice-speaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky and member Konstantin Zatulin were banned from entering Ukraine (were declared "persona non grata") based on the Ukrainian law concerning foreigners’ status, "foreigners are prohibited to enter the country if they violated Ukrainian legislation during their previous stay." In the case of Zatulin, Ukrainian government accused him of trying to invoke ethnic violence and work against territorial integrity of the Ukrainian state. For example, Zhirinovskiy stated: “Ukraine does not exist. Russian governors must sit in Kyiv and Minsk. True Russian borders are the borders of September 1917.” The Russian Foreign Ministry denounced the ban as unfriendly.


NATO-involved military events in Ukraine since 2006.


The 2006 Crimean anti-NATO protests did not impact foreign military units to participate in multinational military exercises in Ukraine. Various military exercises (including ones with NATO troops) were held in Crimea since 2006.


According to a poll by Razumkov Center in March 2011 some 51% of the Crimean residents considered NATO a threat, while across Ukraine this rate was 20.6% on average.


The 1927 Crimean earthquakes occurred in the month of June and again in September in the waters of the Black Sea near the Crimean Peninsula. Each of the submarine earthquakes in the sequence triggered tsunami. The June event was moderate relative to the large September 11 event, which had at least one aftershock that also generated a tsunami. Following the large September event, natural gas that was released from the sea floor created flames that were visible along the coastline, and was accompanied by bright flashes and explosions.


The June shock was a strong event with a magnitude of 6.0 that caused a nondestructive tsunami along the coast. The shock occurred at a depth of on the submarine slope near Yalta. The shock's intensity was gauged to be VII–VIII ("Very strong–Damaging") on the Medvedev–Sponheuer–Karnik scale. Tide gauge stations recorded waves with a maximum amplitude of at Yalta, at Yevpatoria, and at Feodosia.


The September event struck the Crimean Peninsula with a moment magnitude of 6.7 at a depth of . This destructive earthquake occurred at 22:15 UTC and was recorded by several early seismographs. The shock was centered about southeast of Yalta and had a maximum perceived intensity of VIII ("Damaging") on the Medvedev–Sponheuer–Karnik scale. Near the epicentral region, fishermen reported disturbance of the sea, with tidal gauges recording waves at Yevpatoria and waves in Yalta.


Numerous, very large flames were seen offshore Sevastopol, Cape Lucullus, and Yalta in the early morning following the September event. Several types of fire and flame were described by witnesses. Pale flames were up to wide and up to in height, and were visible for several minutes at a time. Other flames began with a whitish glow and became bright red; this style of flame sometimes burned for more than an hour. Bright flashes and explosions were also reported. The flames and explosions were attributed to methane or other hydrocarbon gasses that had been released from the seabed and spontaneously combusted in Phosphine (a self-igniting gas).


An aftershock that was estimated to have a magnitude of 4.9 occurred on September 16 at 08:21 UTC. The shock was described as weak, but the sea receded at Balaklava Bay.


The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Sevastopol in March 2020. The Russian government includes the cases in Sevastopol in the count of cases in Russia (the city is "de facto" administered by Russia, but recognised as a part of Ukraine by most of the international community).