Since 2014, Crimea has been under Russian control. Ukraine, naturally, wants it back. But what does history show about the challenges of reconquering it? In a series of threads, I'll look at the lessons of past wars.
2/ Crimea's fascinating military history has been of interest to me for many years – I travelled there in the early 2000s to study its old battlefields, so some of this will be drawn from personal recollections and notes.
3/ Let's review Crimea's physical geography. It's a roughly diamond-shaped peninsula, about 320 km (200 mi) east to west by about 200 km (120 mi) north to south. It's mostly flat, apart from the Crimean (or Yayla) Mountains in the far south, which are up to 1,500m (5000 ft) high.
4/ Crimea borders the Black Sea on its west and south sides, and the Sea of Azov in the east. It's separated from Russia by the narrow Kerch Strait, across which Russia has built Europe's longest road and railway bridge to link it to the Russian mainland.
5/ The peninsula's climate is almost subtropical in the far south, but in the north and centre it's mostly arid, as a 2018 vegetation map highlights. Agriculture is dependent on an irrigation canal that runs from the Dnipro river in the Kherson region.
6/ Crimea is separated from the Ukrainian mainland by the Syvash, an area of salt lagoons and marshes which connects to the Sea of Azov via a narrow strait. It's also known as the Putrid or Rotten Sea for its pungent smell in the summer. (This image shows its *natural* colours.)
7/ The Syvash covers around 2,500 km² (965 mi²) and is up to 35 km (21 mi) wide, but is very shallow – only about 3 m (10 ft) deep at maximum. In some places and at the right times, it can be forded on foot. This is militarily significant, as we'll see.
8/ There are only three narrow places along the entire 100 km (62 mi) long northern flank of Crimea where the peninsula is connected to the Ukrainian mainland. This is why Crimea has often been called a "natural fortress", and makes it a difficult place to invade.
All three of these have been used to invade Crimea, as we'll see in later threads in this series.
10/ For completeness we should mention the Kerch Strait as an entry point, as that's also of military importance. It's only 3.1 km (1.9 mi) wide at its narrowest. As well as the bridge, it's also crossed by ferries from Port Krym to the Chushka Spit on the Russian side.
11/ The Arabat Spit is a 112 km (70 mi) long sand spit – the longest in the world – which is only 270m (885 ft) wide at its narrowest point. It's low and exposed, relies on two bridges to connect it to the Ukrainian mainland and only connects to Crimea at its far southern end.
12/ There is no proper road along the spit, only a sandy track, although Russia has suggested that it might create a new road to improve Crimea's connection to the Ukrainian mainland. Currently, though, it would be difficult for an army to pass along it.
13/ The Chonhar Peninsula is a narrow wedge of land extending south from the Ukrainian mainland into the Syvash, 20 km (12 mi) west of the Arabat Spit. Two road bridges and one railway bridge at its tip carry transport routes from Melitipol in Ukraine across the Syvash.
14/ The Perekop Isthmus is the only unbridged link between Crimea and the Ukrainian mainland. It's only 9 km (5.5 mi) wide at its narrowest point and is of vital military and economic importance. The road, railway line and canal from Kherson to Crimea all come through here.
15/ There are a few small towns on the isthmus. Perekop (pictured below) itself is technically the oldest – a town has existed there since ancient Greek times. Armyansk was founded by Armenian merchants to trade with the Tatars who formerly ruled Crimea.
16/ To the south, Krasnoperekopsk, literally "Red Perekop", is a Soviet town built to house workers at a nearby bromine factory. The village of Ishun a short way further south is also of military significance for its location near three lakes – Krasne, Kyatske and Kyrleutske.
17/ While there have been battles on the Chonhar Peninsula and Arabat Spit, the Perekop Isthmus has been recognised for millennia as the gateway to Crimea. A line of fortifications has existed across the isthmus for at least 2,500 years, and has repeatedly been fought over.
18/ The ancient Greek name for Perekop, Taphros, means 'dug-out place'. It likely reflected the presence of a ditch across the isthmus at this point. The ditch is still there – it's clearly visible from space – and was fortified further between the 15th and 20th centuries.
19/ The fortification, known variously as the Perekop Wall, Turkish Wall or Tatar Ditch, is up to 45m (150 ft) wide and was originally up to 20m (65 ft) deep. It was anchored at the Perekop end by the now ruined Or-Kapi fortress, from which Perekop takes its name.
20/ The fort was originally built by the Tatar Crimean Khanate in the 15th and 16th centuries to defend Crimea from the Mongol-descended Golden Horde. After the Horde's final defeat, the Tatars launched raids into the north to capture Slavs for the Ottoman slave trade.
21/ Not surprisingly, this caused conflict with the Cossacks who lived along the Dnipro. This brings us to the invasion of Crimea in 1675 by the Cossack Ivan Sirko, which will be the subject of my next thread in this series. /end
69 years ago today, Hungary rose up against a tyrannical Communist government backed by the Soviet Union. With Hungary currently under another pro-Russian leader, the story of the Hungarian Revolution is still strongly relevant.
2/ Immediately prior to the revolution, Hungary's Stalinist regime was deeply unpopular. Hungary's economy was struggling, Communist leader Mátyás Rákosi had been deposed by the Soviets over destalinisation, and the many past abuses of the regime were becoming public knowledge.
3/ A student protest sparked the revolution, followed by the Hungarian Writers' Union declaring its support for anti-communist reformers in Poland and laying a symbolic wreath at the statue of General Józef Zachariasz Bem, a hero of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848.
1/ A Russian soldier says that every man in his unit has been ordered to shoot his comrades if they try to flee, or face being shot themselves as a punishment. He describes an atmosphere of paranoia amidst huge losses, which he puts at 95% of men going into assaults. ⬇️
2/ The man says that he is from Altai Krai, where he was made to sign a contract to avoid going to trial for an unspecified offence for which he faced eight years' imprisonment. He has been serving in the army for six months and is currently a stormtrooper.
3/ He says that "every second person here drinks, to gain courage, to go somewhere [on a mission]." The reason why is understandable: "A hundred people would join a group [for a mission], take a position, and only five would come out."
1/ A Russian city is literally drowning in human waste due to the failure of its sewage system. It's worn out but hasn't been replaced or repaired due to a lack of funding. It's a vivid illustration of the costs imposed by Russia's money being redirected to the war in Ukraine. ⬇️
2/ Balakhna is an historic city of around 51,000 people, founded in 1474 on the banks of the Volga River about 32 kilometers (20 mi) north of Nizhny Novgorod. However, its underfunded sewage system has collapsed, with the result that "the city is literally flooded with shit".
3/ Balakhna native Alexander Kartavykh – a Russian warblogger – has been highlighting the city's problems in a series of posts on Telegram. He says that "the pumps aren't working, everything's broken, it's a complete and utter disaster."
1/ Russian forces are making extensive use of infiltration tactics in place of the notorious 'meat assaults', according to a new report by @jack_watling. However, a Russian warblogger says that this is costing 2 or 3 times as many cumulative casualties as massed assaults. ⬇️
2/ The DShRG Rusich Telegram channel has published a video taken by a Russian soldier on an infiltration mission. He follows a path along a treeline which was used by many other Russian soldiers on similar missions – dozens of whom can be seen lying dead along the way.
3/ The channel's author writes:
"The tactic of infiltrating small groups (2-3 people), unfortunately, often results in greater losses than a single massive assault. Yes, on video, it looks tragic from the enemy side, with several units of equipment being destroyed."
1/ A Russian colonel reportedly died of cardiac arrest after it was discovered during a rotation that he had been lying to his superiors about his division's control of territory in the Kherson region. ⬇️
2/ Colonel Alexey Vladlenovich Plisov, callsign 'Ryazan', was the commander of the Russian 70th Motor Rifle Division of the 18th Combined Arms Army. The division was located on the left bank of the Dnipro river.
3/ Plisov is said to have repeatedly reported to his superiors that most of the islands in the Kherson region were under Russian control. However, Ukrainian reports and independent assessments have consistently assigned the islands to the 'grey zone' controlled by neither side.
1/ Russia is said to be lagging far behind Ukraine in drone production, with as many as 40 to 100 Ukrainian drones for every Russian one. An angry commentary from a Russian warblogger complains of an ongoing failure by Russia to produce enough drones for the front. ⬇️
2/ 'Voenkor Kotenok' writes: "For those infinitely removed from the front line and who understand the war as a stream of official media reports, let me explain: at the moment, full-scale counter-attacks are taking place in many directions and sectors of the…
3/ …Special Military Operation, involving small units/groups/detachments. The fighting is fierce, with varying success, with individual terrain, positions, strongholds, and the ruins of populated areas changing hands four or five times.