Southern Naval Base (,

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

: Южная военно-морская база) was a

naval base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that usu ...

of the

Armed Forces of Ukraine The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are the Military, military forces of Ukraine. All military and security forces, including the Armed Forces, are under the command of the president of Ukraine and subject to oversight by a permanent Verkhovna Rad ...

located in the town of

Novoozerne Novoozerne (; ; ) is an urban-type settlement in the Yevpatoria municipality of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, a territory recognized by a majority of countries as part of Ukraine and since 2014 occupied and incorporated by Russia as the Re ...

(part of

Yevpatoria Yevpatoria (; ; ; ) is a city in western Crimea, north of Kalamita Bay. Yevpatoria serves as the administrative center of Yevpatoria Municipality, one of the districts (''raions'') into which Crimea is divided. It had a population of His ...

city municipality) on

Donuzlav Bay Lake Donuzlav (Russian and Ukrainian: Донузлав, ), also referred to as Donuzlav Bay, is the deepest lakeOliferov, A.M. Donuzlav (ДОНУЗЛА́В)'. Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine. of Crimea () and biggest in Chornomorske Raion (). It ...

in the western part of

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

. The base was reorganized in place of the of the Soviet Union which completely occupied the southern shores of Donuzlav Bay and included hovercraft berths, Donuzlav Air Station, and a submarine base. Most of the former base is disassembled, while the former Donuzlav Air Station is non-operational. Donuzlav Bay is separated from the Black Sea by two sandspits which serve as a small freight port of the Yevpatoriya Commercial Trade Port located in the city.

History

The naval base was established by Ukraine in 1996, having previously been a Soviet naval base from 1976 to 1991, and then a Russian base. It celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2011.

Capture by Russia

In connection with the events of social and political instability that led the Ukraine government to resignation on 28 January 2014, Russian parliament authorized the deployment of Russian military troops on Ukrainian soil with the official mandate of protection for Russian native population living in Crimea. These actions violated the treaties of 1997 and are qualified as an act of aggression according to Article 3(e) of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3314 (XXIX) on the Definition of Aggression of 1974:

The use of armed forces of one State which are within the territory of another State with the agreement of the receiving State, in contravention of the conditions provided for in the agreement or any extension of their presence in such territory beyond the termination of the agreement.

Naval blockade

During the night between 5 and 6 March 2014 ships of the Russian

Black Sea Fleet The Black Sea Fleet () is the Naval fleet, 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 Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, are subordin ...

, led by the ''Slava''-class

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea ...

''Moskva'' sank the decommissioned Russian Kara-class cruiser ''Ochakov'' and the rescue

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

''Shakhter'' at the entrance to Donuzlav Bay as

blockship 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 at Portland ...

s to prevent the Ukrainian fleet stationed at the Southern Naval Base from reaching the open sea. The following day the decommissioned diving support vessel ''BM-416'' was also scuttled in the bay entrance. Trapped in the bay, the Ukrainian squadron surrendered without a shot being fired. The ''Ochakov'' was refloated several months later, and returned to

Inkerman Inkerman (; ; ) is a city in the Crimean peninsula. It is '' de facto'' within the federal city of Sevastopol within the Russian Federation, but ''de jure'' within the Autonomous Republic of Crimea within Ukraine. It lies 5 kilometres (3 miles ...

to await scrapping. The surrendered Ukrainian ships included the

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...

''Vinnytsia'',

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

s ''Chernigov'', and , medium

landing ship An amphibious warfare ship (or amphib) is an amphibious vehicle warship employed to land and support ground forces, such as marines, on enemy territory during an amphibious assault. Specialized shipping can be divided into two types, most crud ...

''Kirovograd'', large landing ship ''Konstantin Olshansky'', fire boat ''Evpatoria'', transport ''Gorlovka'',

s and ''Novoozernoe'', patrol boat ''Feodosia'', and torpedo boat ''Kherson''.

References

External links

Members of the Southern Naval Base of Ukrainian Navy celebrated 15th anniversary of establishing of Ukrainian Navy

Members of the Southern Naval Base of Ukrainian Navy celebrated 15th anniversary of establishing of Ukrainian Navy
Ministry of Defense.

Novoozerne town website. {{Ukrainian Navy Ukraine Navy facilities Military facilities in Crimea Yevpatoria Municipality 1996 establishments in Ukraine 2014 disestablishments in Ukraine Military installations closed in 2014