Sevastopol, sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base throughout its history. Since the city's founding in 1783 it has been a major base for Russia's Black Sea Fleet, and it was previously a closed city during the Cold War. The total administrative area is 864 square kilometres (334 sq mi) and includes a significant amount of rural land. The urban population, largely concentrated around Sevastopol Bay, is 479,394, and the total population is 547,820.
The Black Sea Fleet is the fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet, along with other Russian ground and air forces on the Crimean Peninsula, are subordinate to the Southern Military District of the Russian Armed Forces. The fleet traces its history to its founding by Prince Potemkin on 13 May 1783 as part of the Imperial Russian Navy. The Russian SFSR inherited the fleet in 1918; with the founding of the Soviet Union in 1922, it became part of the Soviet Navy. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Black Sea Fleet was partitioned between the Russian Federation and Ukraine in 1997, with Russia receiving title to 82% of the vessels.
The Ukrainian Navy was the maritime forces of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Zaporizhzhia (U-01) is a project 641 (Foxtrot-class) diesel-electric powered submarine, and was the only submarine of the Ukrainian Navy up until her seizure in March 2014 by Russian forces during 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea. She formerly carried the Soviet Navy pennant number B-435. Zaporizhzhia was designed at the Rubin Design Bureau.
The Ropucha class, Soviet designation Project 775, is a class of landing ship built in Poland for the Soviet Navy. The ships were built in the Stocznia Północna shipyards in Gdańsk, Poland. They were designed for beach landings, and can carry 450 tons of cargo. The ships have both bow and stern doors for loading and unloading vehicles, and the 630 square metres (6,800 sq ft) of vehicle deck stretch the length of the hull. Up to 25 armored personnel carriers can be embarked.
Lutsk (Луцьк) was an anti-submarine corvette of the Ukrainian Navy. Board number U205. In March 2014 Lutsk was captured by Russian forces during the Crimean crisis.
Sevastopol Shipyard is a shipyard located in Sevastopol, Crimea, founded as a dockyard for the Imperial Russian Navy in 1783.
The Port of Odesa or Odesa Sea Port, located near Odesa, is the largest Ukrainian seaport and one of the largest ports in the Black Sea basin, with a total annual traffic capacity of 40 million tonnes, the only port of Ukraine capable of accepting Panamax class vessels. The port has an immediate access to railways allowing quick transfer of cargo from sea routes to ground transportation. Along with its younger satellite ports of Chornomorsk (1958) and Yuzhne (1973), the Port of Odesa is a major freight and passenger transportation hub of Ukraine.
Vinnytsia (U206) was an anti-submarine corvette of the Ukrainian Navy. Prior to joining the Ukrainian Navy she was a former KGB Border Guard patrol ship named Dnepr. In March 2014, she was seized by Russian soldiers and de facto came under control of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The ship was returned to the Ukrainian Navy from Crimea on 19 April 2014.
Black Sea Shipping Company is a Ukrainian shipping company based in Kyiv.
The Navy of the Ukrainian People's Republic, was a marine military force of the Ukrainian People's Republic that was based on a free will of Imperial Russia sailors to pledge allegiance to Ukraine. The force was never fully operational as the country constantly fought for its survival with the neighboring Soviet Russia. Eventually most of the Black Fleet was either sunk by the Bolsheviks or become part of expeditionary force of the White movement on evacuation.
Sevastopol Bay is a city harbor that includes a series of smaller bays carved out its shores. The bay of Sevastopol splits the city of Sevastopol into the Southern side and the Northern side. It serves as an extension of the Chorna River and stretches for 7.5 km (4.7 mi) which is the longest of them all.
Novorossiysk Sea Port is one of the largest ports in the Black Sea basin and the largest in Krasnodar Krai. At 8.3 km, the NSP berthing line is the longest among all the ports of Russia. The port is located on the Northeast coast of the Black Sea, in the Tsemes Bay. The bay is ice-free and open for navigation all year round. However, in winter the navigation occasionally stops due to the hazardous northeastern bora wind. The Tsemes Bay allows deep-draft vessels up to 19 m, and the inner harbour up to 12.5 m. The liquid bulk terminals depth range from 8.4 to 15.6 m, suitable for tankers with a deadweight of up to 250,000 tons, like Suezmax-class vessels.
Nezamozhnik was one of eight Fidonisy-class destroyers built for the Imperial Russian Navy during World War I. Originally named Zante (Занте), the ship was left unfinished during the Russian Revolution in 1917 and later captured by Ukrainian and White forces. The mostly complete destroyer was towed from her shipyard by retreating White forces and wrecked during a storm in 1920. She was refloated by the Soviets following their victory in the Russian Civil War and completed in 1923 as Nezamozhny (Незаможный).
The Partition Treaty on the Status and Conditions of the Black Sea Fleet consists of three bilateral agreements between Russia and Ukraine signed on 28 May 1997 whereby the two countries established two independent national fleets, divided armaments and bases between them, and set forth conditions for basing of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Crimea. The treaty was supplemented by provisions in the Russian–Ukrainian Friendship Treaty, which was signed three days later. Russia unilaterally terminated the Partition Treaty in 2014 after it annexed Crimea.
The Sevastopol Naval Base is an occupied naval base located in Sevastopol, in the disputed Crimean Peninsula. The base is used by the Russian Navy, and it is the main base of the Black Sea Fleet. Internationally it's recognised as Ukrainian land under Russian occupation.
With the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Ukrainian independence the majority ethnic Russian Crimean peninsula was reorganized as the Republic of Crimea, after a 1991 referendum with the Crimean authorities pushing for more independence from Ukraine and closer links with Russia. In 1995 the Republic was forcibly abolished by Ukraine with the Autonomous Republic of Crimea established firmly under Ukrainian authority. There were also intermittent tensions with Russia over the Soviet Fleet, although a 1997 treaty partitioned the Soviet Black Sea Fleet allowing Russia to continue basing its fleet in Sevastopol with the lease extended in 2010. Following the impeachment of the relatively pro-Russia Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, Russia invaded Crimea, overthrew the elected Autonomous government and claimed to annex it in 2014.
Beginning in July 2022, a series of explosions and fires occurred on the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula from where the Russian Army had launched its offensive on Southern Ukraine during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Occupied since 2014, Crimea was a base for the subsequent Russian occupation of Kherson Oblast and Russian occupation of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The Ukrainian government has not accepted responsibility for all of the attacks.
On 29 October 2022, there was a large-scale attack by aerial drones and drone boats on the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
