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. During the Cold War of the 20th century, it was a closed city. 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 is 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.
A blockship is a ship deliberately sunk to prevent a river, channel, or canal from being used as a waterway. It may either be sunk by a navy defending the waterway to prevent the ingress of attacking enemy forces, as in the case of HMS Hood at Portland Harbour in 1914; or it may be brought by enemy raiders and used to prevent the waterway from being used by the defending forces, as in the case of the three old cruisers HMS Thetis, Iphigenia and Intrepid scuttled during the Zeebrugge raid in 1918 to prevent the port from being used by the German navy.
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.
Sevastopol Shipyard is a shipyard located in Sevastopol, Crimea, founded as a dockyard for the Imperial Russian Navy in 1783.
Tapir-class landing ship, Soviet designation Project 1171 landing ship is a class of Soviet/Russian general purpose, beachable amphibious warfare ships.
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.
Kerch (Керчь) was a Kara-class missile cruiser of the Soviet and later Russian Navy. She served as part of the Black Sea Fleet. The ship was scrapped in 2020 following a large fire which broke out on 4 November 2014.
Sevastopol Marine Trade Port (SMTP) is a port in Sevastopol. It is located mainly at the Bay of Sevastopol, and at smaller bays around the Heracles peninsula. The port infrastructure is fully integrated with the city of Sevastopol and naval bases of the Russian Navy and the Black Sea Fleet.
Southern Naval Base was a naval base of the Armed Forces of Ukraine located in the town of Novoozerne on Donuzlav Bay in the western part of Crimea.
Lake Donuzlav, also referred to as Donuzlav Bay, is the deepest lake of Crimea and biggest in Chornomorske Raion. It is a protected landscape and recreational park of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
Project 22160 is a series of large patrol ships being constructed for the Russian Navy. The vessels are primarily intended for duties such as patrol, monitoring and protection in open and closed seas. The first ship was laid down in February 2014 and joined the Russian Navy in December 2018. By January 2018, six ships were under construction. Between 2017 and 2022, four ships had been launched.
Boris Borisovich Kozhin or Borys Borysovych Kozhyn is a Ukrainian retired vice admiral and politician who served as the first commander of the Ukrainian Navy from April 1992 to October 1993. He later served as a People's Deputy of Ukraine on the party list of the People's Movement of Ukraine from 1998 to 2002.
Gadzhibey (Гаджибей) was one of eight Fidonisy-class destroyers built for the Imperial Russian Navy during World War I. Completed in late 1917, too late to see active service during the war, Gadzhibey's sailors joined the Bolsheviks after the October Revolution. In early 1918, the destroyer assisted in the consolidation of Soviet control over Crimea, fighting against Crimean Tatar forces at Yalta and Alushta. After the German-Ukrainian invasion of Crimea, she was withdrawn to Novorossiysk and scuttled there in June to avoid capture by German forces. Raised by the Soviet Union in the late 1920s, Gadzhibey was deemed uneconomical to repair and scrapped. Her propulsion machinery was used to refit a sister ship.
The siege of Southern Naval Base lasted from 3 March 2014 until its definitive capture on 27 March 2014. The action began with the blockade of Donuzlav bay by the Russian missile cruiser Moskva. The Russian Navy later scuttled the Russian anti-submarine ship Ochakov and several smaller vessels in the mouth of the bay to prevent Ukrainian ships from sailing to open sea and reaching the Ukrainian fleet in Odesa. As a result, 13 Ukrainian ships were bottled up and eventually captured by Russia in Donuzlav bay. The blockade ended when the Russian Navy seized the last ship under the Ukrainian flag in Crimea, the minesweeper Cherkasy.
Shtil' was a Nanuchka-class corvette in the Soviet Navy and later the Russian Navy.
Vasily Bykov is a project 22160 patrol ship of the Russian Navy, of which it was the first ship built. It was laid down on 26 February 2014 on the Zelenodolsk Shipyard at Zelenodolsk in Tatarstan, Russia, and launched on 28 August 2017. Vasily Bykov was commissioned on 20 December 2018 in the Novorossiysk Naval Base at Novorossiysk, becoming part of the Black Sea Fleet.
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