This is the sixt part of my trip through Ukraine and these are the other parts:
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Sevastopol is a port city in Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 (2001). The city, formerly the home of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet, is now a Ukrainian naval base mutually used by the Ukrainian Navy and Russian Navy.
The unique geographic location and navigation conditions of the city's harbours make Sevastopol a strategically important naval point. It is also a popular seaside resort and tourist destination, mainly for visitors from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries.
The trade and shipbuilding importance of Sevastopol's Port has been growing since the fall of the Soviet Union,[citation needed] despite the difficulties that arise from the joint military control over its harbours and piers.
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The city is known for it's naval history. The city was first founded as Σεβαστούπολις (Sevastoupolis) by the old Greeks, but the city as we know it today was founded as Akhtiar in 1783 by admiral Thomas Mackenzie, when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula. In 1826 the city was returned to it's orginal name, Sevastopol and became an important navalbase.
The city was sieged in 1854 and 1855 by British, French, Sardinian, and Turkish troops during the Crimean War. The Russian army had to leave the city and had 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. The writer Mark Twain noticed:
'In whatsoever direction you please, your eye encounters scarcely anything but ruin, ruin, ruin!'
Once again, this time by the Germans in World War 2 the city was wiped out of the map. The proud of industrial giant Krupp and German engineering, the largest canon ever made:
Schwerer Gustav was used to bomb the city. The result of all of this is that only ten buildings in the city survived WW2.
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In 1944, Sevastopol came under the control of troops from the Soviet Union. The so-called "City of Russian Glory" once known for its beautiful architecture was entirely destroyed and had to be rebuilt stone by stone. Due to its enormous historical and symbolic meaning for the Russians, it became a priority for Stalin and the Soviet government to have it restored to its former glory within the shortest time possible.
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The Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was abolished in June 30, 1945 and transformed into the Crimean Oblast (province) of the Russian SFSR. On February 19, 1954, the oblast was transferred from the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. As it stated in the Supreme Soviet Decree, the transfer was caused by close (1) geographic, (2) economic, and (3) cultural ties to the Ukrainian SSR.
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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. Together with Dnipropetrovsk is was the only closed city in Ukraine during Soviet times.
Because of this history it is quite interesting to wonder if Sevastopol is a Ukranian or a Russian city. 71.6% Of the population is Russian and only 22.4% is Ukranian. The result is that Sevastopol has become an important political issue:
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Russian naval base and ownership dispute
According to the 1997 treaty, the Russian naval base is declared to be "located in Sevastopol" on the terms of a twenty year renewable lease, following a long diplomatic and political dispute between Russia and the newly independent Ukraine. At first, Moscow refused to recognize Ukrainian sovereignty over Sevastopol as well as over the surrounding Crimean oblast, arguing that the city was never practically integrated into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic due to its military base status. This claim has been relinquished in the bilateral "Peace & Friendship" treaty, which has confirmed that Sevastopol belongs to Ukraine. A separate treaty establishes the terms of a long-term lease of land and resources in Sevastopol by Russia.
The ex-Soviet Black Sea Fleet with all its facilities was divided between Russia's Black Sea Fleet and the Ukrainian Navy after a continuous, sometimes violent struggle. The two navies now co-use some of the city's harbours and piers, while others were demilitarised or used by either country. Sevastopol remains the home of the Russian Black Sea Fleet Headquarters with the Ukrainian Naval HQ also based in the city. A judicial row continues over the naval hydrographic infrastructure both in Sevastopol and on the Crimean coast (especially lighthouses used in civil navigation support).
The status of the Black Sea Fleet has a strong influence over the city's business and cultural life. The Russian society in general and even some outspoken government representatives have never accepted the loss of Sevastopol, and tend to regard it as temporarily separated from the homeland.[5] Moscow Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov declared that Sevastopol "should again be a Russian city" and appropriated $34 million for "the support of compatriots abroad."[6] Protests by citizens of the city caused the cancellation of a joint Ukraine-NATO military exercise in 2006.[6]
Kiev-appointed authorities retain formal control of Sevastopol's life (such as of taxation and civil policing) and try to avoid confrontation with the base command and pro-Russian groups. A few years ago, the Communist-dominated city council rejected a EBRD loan to renovate Sevastopol's poor sewage system, declaring that the project was intended to increase the city's dependence on the Ukrainian government and the West.[citation needed]
The WE Youth Political Organization, which advocates Russian citizenship for Sevastopol residents,[7] published a poll in 2004 claiming "72% of the Sevastopol citizens support the idea of the independent status of Crimea... Besides, 95% of the respondents support the constant stationing of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol even after 2017, when the time of the corresponding agreement between Russia and Ukraine is up. Also, 100% of the interrogated people are for the accordance of the having a double citizenship, Russian and Ukrainian, right to the Sevastopol citizens. Although it is notable those in case of obtaining the Russian citizenship only 16% of the Sevastopol citizens are ready to give up the Ukrainian one."[8]
The International Herald Tribune has reported Ukraine is planning to not renew the lease.
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Enjoy the pictures of this interesting and beautiful city!
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02) This was my wake-up call!
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11) Notice the cranes are painted in the national colours of Ukraine. This could be an political statement regarding the tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
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16) The Sunken Ships Monument.
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38) A monument for Eduard Totleben, a Baltic German military engineer and general working for the Russian Army.
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41) The main trainstation of Sevastopol.
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45) The Panorama Museum, where a huge painting shows the Siege of Sevastopol.
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Севастополь | Sevastopol: formerly the home of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet
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