The Kerch Strait connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov and separates the Crimean Peninsula from the Caucasian coast. In the west, the strait is bounded by the eastern coast of the Kerch Peninsula, and in the east by the western coast of the Taman Peninsula. The borders of the Kerch Strait are the lines connecting Capes Takil and Panagia from the Black Sea and Capes Khroni and Achilleion from the Sea of Azov.
The Kerch Strait is wide. Its smallest width is about 2 miles and the largest is 25 miles. The presence of a large number of spits, shoals and other dangers makes the strait in some places dangerous for navigation. A channel was dug for the passage of ships with a large draft.
The shores of the Kerch Strait are elevated. The exception is the shores of the Taman Bay, which are low-lying near the water, but gradually rise deep into the mainland. A characteristic feature of the shores of the strait is the almost complete absence of woody vegetation.
The shores of the Kerch Strait, especially the eastern one, are indented with bays and bays; the largest of them are the Kamysh-Burun and Kerch bays in the west and the Taman Bay in the east. From the banks of the strait, mainly from the east, low-lying sandy spits protrude. The largest of them are the Tuzla and Chushka spits, which limit the Taman Bay from the west. Sea of Azov Pilot Kerch
Capes Takil, Bely, Yenikale, Lantern and Khroni sharply protruding from the western coast of the strait and capes Panagia, Tuzla and Achilleion from the eastern shore make it easy to navigate both when approaching the strait and when swimming in it; luminous signs are installed on some capes. Good notable points on the western coast of the strait are also Mount Mithridates, on top of which the obelisk of Glory was erected, and the Yenikalsky lighthouse, installed on Cape Lantern; on the eastern coast of the strait, the Zelensky, Lysaya, Gorelay and other mountains are noticeable.
In the Kerch Strait there are several small low-lying islands located in the Taman Bay to the east of the Chushka Spit. The Tuzla Spit is separated from the Taman Peninsula by a shallow but wide strait, so in reality it is not a spit, but an island.
The Kerch Strait is shallow. The greatest depths at the entrances to the strait do not exceed 10 meters in the north and 17 meters in the south of the strait. Towards the middle of the strait, the depths gradually decrease, and in a large area between the parallels of the Kamysh-Burnu and Yenikale capes, they do not exceed 5.5 meters. Therefore, in the middle part of the Kerch Strait, navigation of ships with a large draft is possible only through the channel. Taman Bay has a fairly flat bottom; the depth in it is 4-5.4 meters. The Dinskoy Bay, which is the northern part of the Taman Bay, is shallow.
The soil in the deepest places of the Kerch Strait is silt, in the region of scythes silt, as well as id with sand and shells.
There are many dangers in the Kerch Strait that make navigation much more difficult. Particularly noteworthy are the areas of inlet capes from the Black Sea, where big number reefs, shoals, banks and other underwater obstacles, the Tuzla Spit area, near the ends of which there are many pitfalls, banks, piles, as well as Church banks, occupying a significant area south of Cape Enikale. There are many dangers on both sides of the Kerch-Yenikal canal; the greatest number of dangers lies near the eastern part of the Yenikalsky elbow of the canal.
Hazards located near fairways, fairways and deepened channels are fenced with luminous and non-luminous buoys and milestones.
winds. For most of the year, NE winds blow in the Kerch Strait, which are distinguished by great strength and duration. In summer, southerly winds are quite frequent. Strong winds are observed at any time of the year, but mainly in winter and autumn. Force 9 winds are quite rare. Calms are observed frequently, mainly in summer. In winter, winds from the NE bring cooling.
Fogs are most frequent in winter; they are rare in summer. Fogs are longer in winter than in summer.
The currents in the Kerch Strait mainly depend on the winds, as well as on the flow of water from the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov. The current from the Sea of Azov is observed on average more often and usually with southerly winds. It was also noted that with strong continuous winds from the NE, after the water is driven away from the Sea of Azov, in the middle part of the strait, regardless of the direction of the wind, a reverse current coming from the Black Sea begins.
The highest speed of currents is observed in the narrowest parts of the strait; in strong winds it can reach 3 knots. In the wide part of the strait, the speed of currents is 0.1-0.5 knots.
Ice in the Kerch Strait appears almost annually on average at the end of December. The ice cover under the influence of variable currents and winds during the winter is often disturbed. In very severe winters, with northeast winds, the strait is covered with relatively strong ice. Complete clearing of ice from the strait is observed in late February-early March. Drifting ice in the strait is observed mainly in the spring after the opening of the Sea of Azov.
Ice from the Sea of Azov goes into the strait, usually in a continuous mass, sometimes strongly hummocked, forming heaps on the spits of Chushka and Tuzla. A significant part of the ice penetrates into the southern part of the strait.
Forbidden areas for anchorages are available in the Kerch Strait. The boundaries of these regions are shown on maps.
Anchor places. In addition to the port of Kerch and the bays of Kamysh-Burunskaya and Pavlovskaya, it is allowed to anchor in the Kerch Strait only in the following places: at the receiving buoy No.
Kerch Strait (Ukr. Kerch channel, Crimea. Keriсboğazı, Adyghe. Khy Tiuale, called by the ancient Greeks the Cimmerian Bosporus by name ancient people, Cimmerians) - a strait connecting the Black and Azov seas. The western shore of the strait is the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea, the eastern shore is the Taman Peninsula. The width of the strait is from 4.5 to 15 km. The greatest depth is 18 meters. The most important port is the city of Kerch.
The Kerch Strait is a fishing area for many species of fish. Putin begins at the end of autumn and lasts for several months.
Myth, archaic:
Euripides describes how from the side of Taurida (Crimea) the strait is crossed by Io - the beloved of Zeus, turned by Hera into a cow and driven by a gadfly. Aeschylus calls the ford across the strait - "Cow Ford". In his Biographies, Plutarch, referring to Hellanicus, reports that the Amazons crossed the Cimmerian Bosporus on ice.
Antiquity
The fact that nomads crossed the strait on ice in winter is known from the History of Herodotus. In the 5th century BC e. Representatives of the ancient Milesian aristocratic family of the Archeanaktides founded the city of Panticapaeum, the capital of the Bosporan kingdom, on the site of present-day Kerch, on the western coast of the strait.
Herodotus twice mentioned the Cimmerian crossings.
In the II century BC. e. on the ice of the strait from the side of Lake Meotida (Sea of Azov), a battle took place between the army of the commander Neoptolemus and the barbarians: in an equestrian battle on ice, he also defeated naval battle the same barbarians in the summer, when the ice melted” (Strabo, II, 1, 6) “They say that the commander of Mithridates Neoptolem defeated the barbarians in the sea battle in the same strait in the summer, and in the horseback in the winter.” (VII, 3, 18)
In April 1944, construction began on a railway bridge across the strait. 115 spans of the same type of 27.1 m each, a 110-meter span structure of a double navigable opening above the fairway for the passage of large vessels, trestles near the coast and a dam, turning on the middle support, made up the full length of the bridge crossing. Construction was completed in the autumn of the same year. Since the bridge did not have ice cutters, in February 1945, about 30% of the supports were damaged by ice from the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov. The bridge was not restored, and the surviving parts were liquidated, as they were an obstacle to navigation.
To replace the destroyed bridge in 1953, the Kerch ferry crossing was opened, connecting the Crimea and the Krasnodar Territory (line Port Krym - Port Kavkaz). Four railway ferries participated in the work of the crossing: Zapolyarny, Severny, Yuzhny and Vostochny. Initially, these ferries were planned to be used at the railway crossing under construction across the Yenisei in Igarka, but in 1953 this construction was closed and the ferries were transported to the Crimea. Later, three car ferries were put into operation: Kerch-1, Kerch-2 and Yeysk.
In the late 1980s, due to the aging of railway ferries, the transportation of passenger and then freight trains across the strait was discontinued. Due to funding problems, new ferries were not built for the crossing, and for almost 15 years the crossing served only for transporting cars. Projects for the construction of a new bridge across the Kerch Strait were repeatedly proposed, but due to the high cost they were not further developed.
In 2004, the Annenkov railway ferry was transferred to the crossing, and in November 2004, on the eve of the second round presidential elections In Ukraine, the solemn opening of the ferry crossing took place. The action was attended by Viktor Yanukovych (at that time the Prime Minister and presidential candidate of Ukraine) and Russian President Vladimir Putin. After the solemn opening ceremony, the railway communication across the strait was restored and exists to this day, but only for the transport of goods.
In the autumn of 2007, during a severe storm in the Kerch Strait, several ships sank, many tons of fuel oil spilled into the sea, thereby causing great damage to the waters of the Kerch Strait.
Currently, the development of a bridge across the Kerch Strait is not underway.
Territorial dispute
In 1996, a member of the Legislative Assembly Krasnodar Territory Alexander Travnikov first raised the question of the territorial belonging of the Tuzla Spit at the session of the WGW. The justification for the legitimacy of Russia's territorial claim to this territory was formulated in the books of A. Travnikov "The Spit of Tuzla the Listed Territory" and "The Spit of Tuzla and Russia's Strategic Interests". In 2003, the Kerch Strait was at the center of a dispute between Russia and Ukraine after the authorities of the Krasnodar Territory, trying to prevent erosion of the sea coast, began to hastily build a dam from Taman towards the Ukrainian island of Tuzla. Russia was accused of encroaching on Ukrainian territory. The conflict was resolved after the intervention of the presidents - the construction of the dam was stopped, and Tuzla remained Ukrainian. As a reciprocal concession, Ukraine agreed to sign an agreement under which the Kerch Strait was recognized as joint inland waters of Russia and Ukraine.
Negotiations of expert groups on the delimitation of the Azov-Kerch water area and the Black Sea are still ongoing, however.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry considers Russia's position on the delimitation of the Kerch Strait to be illegal. Russia refuses to divide the Kerch Strait along the former intra-Soviet administrative border, because in this case it loses control over two-thirds of the Kerch Strait, which entails financial and political costs.
Ukraine accuses Russia of double standards, recalling that at the insistence of Russia, it was the former intra-Soviet administrative border that was recognized as the interstate Russian-Estonian border in the Narva and Gulf of Finland. Ukraine insistently demands that the Kerch Strait be divided in a similar way "in accordance with international law."
Bosphorus
Bosphorus (Greek, “Cow Ford”), the Thracian Bosphorus is a strait between Europe and Asia Minor, connecting the Black Sea with the Marmara, and paired with the Dardanelles with the Mediterranean. The Bosphorus is part of the intra-Eurasian border. On both sides of the strait is the historic city of Constantinople, now Istanbul. The length of the strait is about 30 km, the maximum width is 3,700 m in the north. The fairway depth is from 36 to 124 m.
The Bosphorus is almost the narrowest strait, its smallest width is only 700 meters, which is 600 meters less than the width of the Dardanelles. The Bosphorus itself is not only a very important strait for many states, but also a very beautiful place. People passing through this strait incessantly admire its beauty. Ships enter it as if through a tight gate. The steep banks of the Bosphorus look like fortress walls. But in some places they go down, and in these places the villages descend directly to the water. The Bosphorus is a magnificent, incomparable sight. This sea strait, bordered by picturesque green shores, resembles a majestic river, now narrowing, now wide overflowing. Only the specific "salty smell" of sea spray from the oncoming waves and the unusual blueness and transparency of the water, as happens on sunny days on the Black Sea, remind you that this is a sea strait.
In ancient times, the Bosphorus was called the eighth wonder of the world. Even the Argonauts, sailing through this strait on their ship, heading for the Golden Fleece, admired its beauty.
According to legend, the strait got its name thanks to the daughter of the ancient Argive king Io - the beautiful beloved of Zeus named Io was turned by him into a white cow to avoid the wrath of his wife Hera. The unfortunate Io chose the waterway to salvation, diving into the blue of the strait, which since then has been called the "cow's ford" or the Bosphorus.
The shores of the strait are connected by two bridges: bosphorus bridge 1074 meters long (completed in 1973) and the 1090 meters Sultan Mehmed Fatih Bridge (built in 1988) 5 km north of the first bridge. The construction of a third road bridge is planned, but the construction site is kept secret by the Turkish government to avoid rising land prices. Currently, the construction of the Marmaray railway tunnel (completion date - 2012) is underway, which will unite Istanbul's high-speed transport systems located in the European and Asian parts of the city.
It is assumed (the theory of the Black Sea flood) that the Bosphorus was formed only 7500-5000 years ago. Previously, the level of the Black and Mediterranean seas was significantly lower and they were not connected. At the end of the last ice age, as a result of the melting of large masses of ice and snow, the water level in both reservoirs rose sharply. A powerful flow of water in just a few days made its way from one sea to another, this is evidenced by the bottom topography and other signs.
The ancient Greeks also called the Kerch Strait the Bosporus - Cimmerian Bosporus.
The Bosphorus is one of the most important straits, as it provides access to the Mediterranean Sea and the world's oceans of a large part of Russia, Ukraine, Transcaucasia and southeastern Europe. In addition to agricultural and industrial products, oil from Russia and the Caspian region plays an important role in exports through the Bosphorus.
The Upper Bosporus, open to northeast winds, is somewhat deserted: there is less vegetation here, and villages scattered along the coastal slopes are rare. But, starting from the ancient fortresses of Rumeli-Hisary and Anadolu-Hisary, standing on opposite banks above the narrowest part of the strait, houses, palaces, country villas appear more and more often against the background of dark greenery.
The landscapes of the Bosphorus are unusually picturesque. Their charm lies in their endless variability, in the elegance of the outlines of the coastal slopes, where slender cypresses and giant plane trees (or, as they are called in the East, plane trees) rise, where crimson and wisteria bloom with pink and purple garlands in spring, and in autumn the heather spreads its silvery blue cloak.
But the Bosphorus is different. In the short winter, due to fogs, rains, and occasionally even snow, it looks quite severe. North winds rush into the mouth. Cold, damp air rushes through the strait, making those who are nearby shiver. The speed of the current in the Bosphorus is increasing. Closer to spring, when snow begins to melt in the Danube basin, the current reaches its maximum speed. In the narrow places of the strait, water seethes, as in a boiling cauldron. Like an arrow, a blue stream of water sweeps along the banks. The Turks call this impetuous stream "sheitan akantysy" - "damn current". In addition to this, the upper reaches, in the Bosphorus there is also a lower one, going in the opposite direction - from the Sea of Marmara to the Black. More salty water of the Sea of Marmara enters the Black Sea through it.
The farther south, the more villages, parks, gardens, villas, mosques, and Sultan's palaces appear on the banks of the strait. Small buildings run down to the water itself, next to which earthen niches have been dug for storing fishing boats. In the most picturesque places, elegant houses rise on several floors, surrounded by a southern terrace, a gallery.
There are many ancient fortresses on the banks of the Bosphorus. Their gloomy thick towers and predatory battlements of the walls vividly remind of the troubled history of the Bosporus, of countless bloody battles.
The shores of the strait, as you move along it, then move apart, then approach each other. It begins to seem that this is some kind of chain of lakes connected by channels. At the same time, the shores either fall or rise, and then the ship seems to fall into a gorge, squeezed by the steep slopes of the mountains.
The Bosphorus is not a long strait, but still, not a single ship can pass through it without meeting a fishing boat, a small steamer, or a large ship of some state. The Bosphorus is a busy sea road, an exit from the Black Sea to the expanses of the world's oceans.
Connect the Azov and Black Sea. From the west they wash the coast of the Kerch Peninsula, and from the east - the coastline of the Taman Peninsula. The main port here is Kerch.
historical names
With the departure of epochs, the Kerch Strait, whose width is not the same throughout its length, changed its name. In the period of antiquity, the people who settled in the lands of the northeastern Black Sea region called it the Cimmerian Bosporus (Bosphorus).
In the future, the rulers of its coasts gave names to the peninsula in the manner that was convenient for them. The Turks who ruled here in the Middle Ages called it Taman-Bogazy. With the advent of the Russians, a piece of land was renamed more than once. There are mentions of the Tauride, and, finally, the Kerch Strait.
Reservoir dimensions
How wide is the Kerch Strait? What is its length and how deep is it? It is interesting to know, first of all, geographers and sailors. The researchers found that its water area stretched in length for 42 kilometers. The range of width varies between 4-15 kilometers.
The strait reached its maximum depth in the fairway. To the bottom there is about 18 meters. In the 70s of the last century, the fairway was deepened with the help of dredgers. However, the lowering of bottom sediments did not allow many deep-draft ships to move freely along the strait. Ships heading to the ports of Azov are reloaded.
In Yenikal the bottom is found at 12-14 feet. Near Ak-Burun, the water column reaches 18-23 feet. In the Kamysh-Burun area, the depths range from 22-24 feet. In the Chongelek zone, in the very middle of it, to reach the bottom, you have to go down to a depth of 42-45 feet.
In the direction connecting Danagia with Takil, the Kerch Strait has a water column of 58-60 feet. The depth and width of the reservoir in each zone are different. Where the shallow line of Yenikale lies, a canal was dug six miles long. The water column in this place is 18 feet.
Climate
No matter where the Kerch Strait is wide, weather are the same throughout its length. The waters in it begin to warm up at the end of May, the temperature, reaching the mark of 24-25 ° C on the thermometer, freezes. If we touch on the problems of visibility, then in the spring it reaches 10 meters, and in the summer its significant drop to three or even two meters is noted.
In winter, the waters in the coastal zone are partly covered with ice and snow. In the strait, more reminiscent of a snowy field, dominate strong winds, reaching 15 m/s, drifting ice and one and a half meter waves. In stormy weather, navigation (available almost all year round) on the reservoir is suspended.
As a rule, the current is directed from the Azov to the Black Sea. However, individual cases, for example, the occurrence of strong southerly winds, can change water currents. On the coast, there is only meager rainfall. Putin, attributable to the end of autumn, lasts for several months.
Coastline Features
The Kerch Strait, whose width is determined by the outlines of the coastline, is framed by low sandy spits, convenient for tourism. The coast formed by the Kerch Peninsula is a hill, in some places steep and rocky. Rocky hills here rise above the beaches and hang over the water surface. The coastline formed by the Taman Peninsula, on the contrary, is low.
Due to the scarcity of precipitation, the shores of the strait are covered with sparse vegetation. The coast is endowed with a very winding line. Many tiny peninsulas and coves crash into it. Quite long sandy spits protrude into the water from the coastline.
Economic branches
The development of fishing and shipping is the basis of the local regional economy. This region is not rich in minerals. Only Cape Iron Horn, which stretches along the southern coast of Taman, can boast of an iron ore deposit. There were discovered places with a unique yield of iron ore directly on earth's surface. The ore in them is enriched with iron up to 33%. There was no industrial iron mining in the area until the 1930s. The population was engaged in a simple collection of slabs that broke off from the ore layers and accumulated in shallow water.
ferry crossing
Since ancient times, the reservoir has been considered an attractive transit hub. Due to the geographical uniqueness of the place, squeezed between the seas, different peoples of antiquity implemented ambitious projects. Greek colonists built here the city of Panticapaeum - the capital of the Bosporus kingdom.
The ancient Panticapaeum with its most important transport artery of antiquity and the Middle Ages - the Great Silk Road - was not destined to survive, and now the hero city of Kerch is spread over the territory it occupied. The first regular cross crossing of the reservoir was organized precisely in the era of Panticapaeum.
The settlement of Porfmius allowed goods and people to cross the strait. The watershed was crossed on rowing and sailing ships. There was nothing accidental in the choice of a place for the city. Exploring the width of the Kerch Strait in one place or another, the Greeks managed to find the narrowest place in the reservoir, where they later erected Porfmiy.
Today, the Kerch Strait, whose width in this zone is about 5 kilometers, is equipped with the port "Crimea". Thanks to the ferry, it was possible to establish the possibility of a permanent connection with the port harbor "Kavkaz". The ancient settlement of Porfmiy acted as an ancient prototype and historical prototype of the Kerch crossing.
Crossing during the war years
Serious efforts to connect the coasts of the Kuban and the Crimea were made in the 40s of the war years of the last century. The German command, which occupied Kerch, highly appreciated the strategic value of the city. The Germans knew how wide the Kerch Strait was, but this did not frighten them, and they equipped the watershed to significantly shorten the road to the Caucasian oil-bearing regions. Having developed the project, they were actively preparing to build the bridge. The critical military situation near Kerch prevented them from carrying out the plan. Soviet soldiers, who liberated the city, tried to solve the same acutely urgent issue: the supply of military cargo from the coast of the Caucasus to the Crimean port.
The front line passed near the reservoir, so it was intensively fired upon by the fascist army. This prevented the passage of laden maritime transport. Since it was not possible to build a full-fledged bridge, a cable car was built, which made it possible to transport cargo over the strait in trolleys. About 300 tons of all kinds of products were transported daily through it. And only when the Crimean lands were completely liberated, the construction of a unique one from captured materials across the Kerch Strait began. The width of the bridge facilitated the free movement of rail transport.
The flyover, not equipped with icebreakers, lasted too little. Building that can't withstand pressure giant ice, collapsed. They did not begin to restore it, they liquidated only the ruins of a strategically important object that interfered with navigation.
Crossing in the post-war years
In the 1950s, construction began on the reservoir. The facility, which was put into operation in 1954, is still functioning. It has acquired the status international line, through which passengers, vehicles and trains are transported. And the considerable width of the Kerch Strait (the photo is presented in the article) has ceased to be an insurmountable obstacle.
At first, 2 ferries ran along the line, taking on board freight cars. Then they were joined by a couple more ships (the design of their wagons was lengthened), carrying passenger trains. Cars were installed in places free of trains, or the ferry was completely loaded with them, without putting the cars. The wagons were rolled onto the ferries using two locomotives.
In the 1970s, the crossing was equipped with two icebreaker ferries. With their appearance, few people became interested in what the width of the Kerch Strait was, because these ships were operated without problems even in winter, during the period when the water surface was covered with ice. One of the icebreaker ferries cleared the fairway from ice, and the second cruised along the line. In the late eighties, another car ferry joined them.
The work of the crossing after the collapse of the USSR
Vessels that had been in operation for over forty years needed serious modernization. The economic and political difficulties that followed the collapse of the USSR were the end railway communication through the Kerch Strait. The width of the reservoir again became an insurmountable obstacle due to the fact that obsolete ferries were scrapped and no new ships were delivered.
The operation of the ferry service, suspended until 2004, resumed after the repair and reconstruction of its railway sectors and the delivery of one vessel. First of all, the crossing of freight trains was restored. In 2005, it was equipped with another rail ferry.
Before the well-known events, the operation of the facility was carried out simultaneously by two states - Ukraine and Russia. Joint management was regulated by intergovernmental agreements. Transportation of trains, cars and people was carried out around the clock.
Now, promising developments regarding the crossing are aimed at ensuring that the width of the Kerch Strait is overcome with the largest possible cargo flow. Ferries and other ships should be streamlined to improve cargo handling and passenger service. It is believed that the development will increase the capacity of the crossing, especially in summer, when the flow of passengers and vehicles increases sharply.
Ferry connection
Kerch bus station is a well-maintained transport hub. A number of bus routes have been laid from it, delivering passengers to the port of "Crimea", Yalta, and other Crimean cities. From here, not only commuter service, many city routes originate here. The city center is connected with the surrounding villages through the movement of buses, minibuses and a functioning trolleybus line. The square with the railway station is located at the entrance to Kerch.
Kerch bridge
The effective development of the transport artery of the region is associated with the construction of the bridge. Analysts believe that a regular transport route, linking the Kuban with the Crimea, will push the development of the regional economy.
At present, regardless of the width of the Kerch Strait in one place or another, about a hundred ships ply the reservoir. The water masses hide the movement of powerful fish schools and the secrets of the flooded cities of antiquity, ancient monuments and many different eras of the universe.
Along with the controversial change in the status of Crimea, which Russia declared its territory against the opinion of Ukraine and the rest of the world, all pending agreements on the state border in the Kerch Strait collapsed. Ukraine and Russia did not have time to install it, and now, according to Russian version, only the border between the subjects of the Russian Federation passes in the Kerch Strait. But even if a miracle happens and the world agrees to the Russian Crimea, who will own the Kerch Strait? Will Ukraine get the right to at least sail from its remnant of the Sea of Azov to the Black and Mediterranean?
The PortNews agency, citing a group of anonymous experts on international relations, stated that after gaining control over Crimea, Russia will demand not half of the territory of the Sea of Azov, but 80%, and it will be necessary to negotiate with Ukraine not about the regime for the navigation of Russian ships through the Kerch Strait, but about the potential for Ukrainian ships and ships under other flags to sail through it.
The last agreement between the Russian Federation and Ukraine on the Russian-Ukrainian state border was concluded on December 28, 2003, without deciding the status of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait and leaving its decision for the future. On the eve of the country quarreled over the island of Tuzla, which lies in the center of the strait. Russia pulled a dam from Taman to it, and Ukraine interfered with it with the help of underwater work. Each country claimed the deserted sandy island as their own.
The 2003 agreement provides for free passage of merchant and military ships of the two countries through the strait, and free passage of foreign merchant ships to the ports of Russia and Ukraine. For the passage of non-commercial vessels of third countries, the consent of Ukraine and Russia is required. It was assumed that in 2005 the presidents of the countries would come to an agreement and resolve the issue of division.
Russia proposed delimiting the Kerch Strait along the fairway - the Kerch-Yenikalsky Canal, which runs west of the island of Tuzla. Ukraine insisted on division along the line of the “administrative border that separated Russia and Ukraine during the Soviet era,” which, according to its version, ran east of the island of Tuzla. Russia replied that in the USSR, internal borders were not drawn by water. In 2005, the countries again disagreed and exchanged diplomatic notes of protest. Kyiv threatened to call on the international community as an arbitrator, Russia insisted on a division along the fairway.
In May 2008, the government delegations of Russia and Ukraine agreed on a methodology for determining the line state border between the Russian Federation and Ukraine in the Sea of Azov based on a combination of median equidistance line methods. Next, experts must determine the length of the coasts of the Sea of Azov on the Russian and Ukrainian sides in order to determine the dividing line. After the division of the Kerch Strait, the parties intended to divide the Black Sea.
However, it was not possible to agree on the strait, since each side remained in its own opinion.
In 2012, an additional agreement was concluded between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on measures to ensure the safety of navigation in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait, which recognized the mutual recognition of national ship documents in relation to Russian and Ukrainian vessels navigating in the waters of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch strait.
Now, in March 2014, Russia has annexed Crimea, and all earlier agreements have lost their meaning.
: 45°18′55″ N sh. 36°34′06″ E d. / 45.31528° N sh. 36.56833° E d./ 45.31528; 36.56833(G) (I)
AT late XVIII- at the beginning of the 20th century, the strait was also called Tauride , Yenikalsky , Kerch-Yenikalsky. The ancient Greeks called it Bosporus Cimmerian(other Greek. Βόσπορος Κιμμέριος ) - named after the ancient people of the Cimmerians.
The Kerch Strait is a fishing area for many species of fish. The main fishing season starts in late autumn and lasts for several months.
Story
ancient mythology
Ancient history and geography
The fact that nomads crossed the strait on ice in winter is known from the History of Herodotus. In the VI century BC. e. the Ionian Greeks founded the city of Panticapaeum on the western shore of the strait - the future capital of the Bosporus kingdom on the site of the current Kerch.
Herodotus twice mentioned the Cimmerian crossings.
In the II century BC. e. on the ice of the strait from the side of Lake Meotida (Sea of Azov), a battle took place between the army of Tsar Mithridates VI Eupator, led by the commander Neoptolemus, and the barbarians:
The ice in these places is so strong at the mouth of Lake Meotida (that is, in the Kerch Strait) that in the place where in winter the commander of Mithridates defeated the barbarians in a horse battle on ice, he also defeated the same barbarians in a sea battle in the summer, when the ice melted.
They say that the commander of Mithridates Neoptolemos in the same strait defeated the barbarians in a sea battle in summer, and in horseback in winter.
Strabo, VII, 3, 18
Most likely, the Achaean tribe, who lived on the territory of the modern Krasnodar Territory and possessed an army and a pirate fleet, was defeated.
The entrance to Meotida is called the Cimmerian Bosporus; it begins with a rather considerable width, namely about seventy stadia, where they cross from the vicinity of Panticapaeum to the nearest Asian city of Phanagoria, and ends in a much narrower strait. This passage separates Europe from Asia...
Strabo, VII, 4, 5
20th century
In April, construction began on a railway bridge across the strait. 115 spans of the same type of 27.1 m each, a 110-meter span structure of a double navigable opening above the fairway for the passage of large vessels, trestles near the coast and a dam, turning on the middle support, made up the full length of the bridge crossing. The construction was completed in the autumn of the same year "on the occasion of the 27th anniversary of the Great October revolution". The construction was carried out from captured materials left after the retreat of the German troops, who intended to transport their armed forces from the Crimea to the main part of the RSFSR via the bridge. However, there is evidence that the construction of the bridge was planned by the Soviet leadership even before the war, and part of the bridge structures was ordered just in Germany. Since the bridge did not have ice cutters, in February 1945, about 30% of the supports were damaged by ice from the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov. Literally a few days before the destruction, the train of the Soviet delegation from the Yalta Conference was returning along the bridge. The bridge was not restored, and the surviving parts were liquidated, as they were an obstacle to navigation.
Instead of the destroyed bridge, the Kerch ferry crossing was opened in 1953. Its length is 2.5 miles (4.6 km), it connects the Crimea and the Krasnodar Territory (line Port Krym - Port Kavkaz). Four railway ferries participated in the work of the crossing: Zapolyarny, Severny, Yuzhny and Vostochny. Later, three car ferries were put into operation: Kerch-1, Kerch-2 and Yeysk.
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Notes
- The Kerch Strait separates the Kerch Peninsula (part of the Crimean Peninsula) and the Taman Peninsula. The Taman Peninsula is located in the Krasnodar Krai of Russia. Most of the Crimean peninsula and adjacent waters are the subject of territorial disputes between Russia, which controls the disputed territory, and Ukraine. According to the administrative-territorial division of Russia, the Kerch Peninsula is located on the territory of the subject of the Russian Federation - the Republic of Crimea. According to the administrative-territorial division of Ukraine, the Kerch Peninsula is located on the territory of the region of Ukraine - the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
- Map sheet .
- Map sheet .
- // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron
- Yenikalsky Strait // Great Soviet Encyclopedia: [in 30 volumes] / ch. ed. A. M. Prokhorov. - 3rd ed. - M. : Soviet encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
- Golovkinsky N. A.// Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
- You are blue, blue waves
Where the sea merges with the sea,
Where is the sting of the Argive wasp
Once upon a fierce abyss
To the shores of Asiatic Io
Rushed from the pastures of Europe!
Who did you send to us?
Euripides. Iphigenia in Tauris, Art. 393-399. -
You will come later to the Cimmerian East,
To the gates of the narrow sea. There, daring
You must cross the strait of Meotida.
And a glorious memory will remain in people
about this crossing. There will be a name for her -
"Cow Ford" - Bosphorus. You will throw Europe
Plains, you will come to the Asian mainland.
"Aeschylus, Prometheus chained", p. 732-735. (Translated by A. I. Piotrovsky) - Plutarch, Theseus, 26
- “... Scythians ... crowds cross the ice and move on wagons to the land of skinds” Herodotus, IV, 28
- Herodotus, IV, 12, 45.
- B. M. Nadezhin "Architecture of bridges", M .: Stroyizdat, 1989
- Transport strategy Russian Federation for the period up to 2030. Approved by Order of the Government of the Russian Federation of November 22, 2008 No. 1734-r
- // Lenta.ru, 04/25/2010
- TVNZ.. Komsomolskaya Pravda (08/12/2014).
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An excerpt characterizing the Kerch Strait
The police chief, who went that morning on the count's order to burn the barges, and, on the occasion of this commission, bailed out a large sum of money that was in his pocket at that moment, seeing a crowd of people advancing towards him, ordered the coachman to stop.- What kind of people? he shouted at the people, who were approaching the droshky, scattered and timid. - What kind of people? I'm asking you? repeated the chief of police, who received no answer.
“They, your honor,” said the clerk in a frieze overcoat, “they, your honor, at the announcement of the most illustrious count, not sparing their stomachs, wanted to serve, and not just some kind of rebellion, as it was said from the most illustrious count ...
“The count has not left, he is here, and there will be an order about you,” said the chief of police. – Went! he said to the coachman. The crowd stopped, crowding around those who had heard what the authorities said, and looking at the departing droshky.
The police chief at this time looked around in fright, said something to the coachman, and his horses went faster.
- Cheating, guys! Lead to yourself! shouted the voice of the tall fellow. - Don't let go, guys! Let him submit a report! Hold on! shouted the voices, and the people ran after the droshky.
The crowd behind the police chief with a noisy conversation headed for the Lubyanka.
“Well, gentlemen and merchants have left, and that’s why we’re disappearing?” Well, we are dogs, eh! – was heard more often in the crowd.
On the evening of September 1, after his meeting with Kutuzov, Count Rastopchin, upset and offended that he was not invited to the military council, that Kutuzov did not pay any attention to his proposal to take part in the defense of the capital, and surprised by the new look that opened to him in the camp , in which the question of the calmness of the capital and its patriotic mood turned out to be not only secondary, but completely unnecessary and insignificant - upset, offended and surprised by all this, Count Rostopchin returned to Moscow. After supper, the count, without undressing, lay down on the couch and at one o'clock was awakened by a courier who brought him a letter from Kutuzov. The letter said that since the troops were retreating to the Ryazan road beyond Moscow, would it please the count to send police officials to lead the troops through the city. This news was not news to Rostopchin. Not only from yesterday's meeting with Kutuzov on Poklonnaya Hill, but even from the Battle of Borodino itself, when all the generals who came to Moscow unanimously said that it was impossible to give another battle, and when, with the permission of the count, state property was already taken out every night and the inhabitants left halfway, Count Rostopchin knew that Moscow would left; but nevertheless this news, reported in the form of a simple note with an order from Kutuzov and received at night, during the first dream, surprised and annoyed the count.
Subsequently, explaining his activities during this time, Count Rostopchin wrote several times in his notes that he then had two important goals: De maintenir la tranquillite a Moscou et d "en faire partir les habitants. [Keep calm in Moscow and expel from If we admit this dual goal, any action of Rostopchin turns out to be impeccable. Why weren’t the Moscow shrine, weapons, cartridges, gunpowder, grain supplies taken out, why were thousands of residents deceived by the fact that Moscow would not be surrendered, and ruined? in order to keep calm in the capital, answers the explanation of Count Rostopchin. Why were piles of unnecessary papers taken out of government offices and Leppich's ball and other objects? - In order to leave the city empty, the explanation of Count Rostopchin answers. One has only to assume that something threatened people's peace, and every action becomes justified.
All the horrors of terror were based only on concern for the people's peace.
What was the basis of Count Rostopchin's fear of public peace in Moscow in 1812? What reason was there to suppose a tendency to rebellion in the city? Residents were leaving, the troops, retreating, filled Moscow. Why should the people revolt as a result of this?
Not only in Moscow, but throughout Russia, when the enemy entered, there was nothing resembling indignation. On the 1st and 2nd of September, more than ten thousand people remained in Moscow, and, apart from the crowd that had gathered in the courtyard of the commander-in-chief and attracted by him, there was nothing. It is obvious that even less unrest among the people should have been expected if, after the Battle of Borodino, when the abandonment of Moscow became obvious, or at least probably, if then, instead of disturbing the people with the distribution of weapons and posters, Rostopchin took measures to the removal of all sacred things, gunpowder, charges and money, and would directly announce to the people that the city was being abandoned.
Rostopchin, an ardent, sanguine man, who always moved in the highest circles of the administration, although with a patriotic feeling, had not the slightest idea of the people he thought to govern. From the very beginning of the enemy's entry into Smolensk, Rastopchin in his imagination formed for himself the role of the leader of the people's feelings - the heart of Russia. It not only seemed to him (as it seems to every administrator) that he controlled the external actions of the inhabitants of Moscow, but it seemed to him that he directed their mood through his appeals and posters, written in that snarky language, which in its midst despises the people and whom he does not understands when he hears it from above. Rastopchin liked the beautiful role of the leader of popular feeling so much, he got used to it so much that the need to get out of this role, the need to leave Moscow without any heroic effect took him by surprise, and he suddenly lost the ground on which he stood from under his feet, in resolutely did not know what to do. Although he knew, he did not believe with all his heart until the last minute in leaving Moscow and did nothing to this end. Residents moved out against his will. If government offices were taken out, then only at the request of officials, with whom the count reluctantly agreed. He himself was busy only with the role that he had made for himself. As is often the case with people endowed with ardent imagination, he had known for a long time that Moscow would be abandoned, but he knew only by reasoning, but he did not believe in it with all his heart, he was not transported by his imagination to this new position.
All his activity, diligent and energetic (how useful it was and reflected on the people is another question), all his activity was aimed only at arousing in the inhabitants the feeling that he himself experienced - patriotic hatred for the French and confidence in itself.
But when the event took on its real, historical dimensions, when it turned out to be insufficient to express one’s hatred for the French in words alone, when it was impossible even to express this hatred in a battle, when self-confidence turned out to be useless in relation to one question of Moscow, when the entire population, like one person , throwing their property, flowed out of Moscow, showing by this negative action the full strength of their popular feelings - then the role chosen by Rostopchin suddenly turned out to be meaningless. He suddenly felt lonely, weak and ridiculous, without ground under his feet.
Upon awakening from sleep, having received a cold and commanding note from Kutuzov, Rostopchin felt the more annoyed the more he felt guilty. In Moscow, everything that was exactly entrusted to him remained, everything that was state-owned that he was supposed to take out. It was not possible to take everything out.
“Who is to blame for this, who allowed this to happen? he thought. “Of course not me. I had everything ready, I held Moscow like this! And here's what they've done! Bastards, traitors!” - he thought, not properly defining who these scoundrels and traitors were, but feeling the need to hate these traitors, who were to blame for the false and ridiculous position in which he was.
All that night, Count Rastopchin gave orders, for which people from all parts of Moscow came to him. Those close to him had never seen the count so gloomy and irritated.
“Your Excellency, they came from the patrimonial department, from the director for orders ... From the consistory, from the senate, from the university, from the orphanage, the vicar sent ... asks ... About the fire brigade, what do you order? A warden from a prison... a warden from a yellow house...” - they reported to the count all night without ceasing.
To all these questions, the count gave short and angry answers, showing that his orders were no longer needed, that all the work he had diligently prepared was now spoiled by someone and that this someone would bear full responsibility for everything that would happen now.
“Well, tell this fool,” he replied to a request from the patrimonial department, “to stay on guard for his papers. What are you asking nonsense about the fire brigade? There are horses - let them go to Vladimir. Don't leave the French.
- Your Excellency, the warden from the lunatic asylum has arrived, as you order?
- How do I order? Let everyone go, that's all ... And release the crazy in the city. When we have crazy armies in command, this is what God ordered.
When asked about the stocks who were sitting in the pit, the count angrily shouted at the caretaker:
“Well, shall I give you two battalions of an escort, which is not there?” Let them go and that's it!
- Your Excellency, there are political ones: Meshkov, Vereshchagin.
- Vereshchagin! Hasn't he been hanged yet? shouted Rostopchin. - Bring him to me.
By nine o'clock in the morning, when the troops had already moved through Moscow, no one else came to ask the count's orders. All those who could ride rode by themselves; those who remained decided for themselves what they had to do.
The count ordered the horses to be brought in to go to Sokolniki, and, frowning, yellow and silent, he sat in his office with his hands folded.
In a calm, not stormy time, it seems to every administrator that it is only through his efforts that the entire population under his control is moving, and in this consciousness of his necessity, each administrator feels the main reward for his labors and efforts. It is clear that as long as the historical sea is calm, it should seem to the ruler-administrator, with his fragile boat resting against the ship of the people with his pole and moving himself, that the ship against which he rests is moving with his efforts. But as soon as a storm rises, the sea is agitated, and the ship itself moves, then delusion is impossible. The ship moves on its own huge, independent course, the pole does not reach the moving ship, and the ruler suddenly passes from the position of the ruler, the source of strength, into an insignificant, useless and weak person.
