
The Kerch Strait is a
strait
A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...
in
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...
. It connects the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...
and the
Sea of Azov
The Sea of Azov is an inland Continental shelf#Shelf seas, shelf sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, and sometimes regarded as a northern extension of the Black Sea. The sea is bounded by Ru ...
, separating the
Kerch Peninsula
The Kerch Peninsula is a major and prominent geographic peninsula located at the eastern end of the Crimean Peninsula.
This peninsula stretches eastward toward the Taman Peninsula between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. Most of the peninsula i ...
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 ...
in the west from the
Taman Peninsula of
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
's
Krasnodar Krai
Krasnodar Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and is administratively a part of the Southern Federal District. Its administrative center is the t ...
in the east. The strait is to wide and up to deep. The most important harbor, the Crimean city of
Kerch
Kerch, also known as Keriç or Kerich, is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of Crimea. It has a population of
Founded 2,600 years ago as the Colonies in antiquity#Greek colonies, ancient Greek colony Pantik ...
, gives its name to the strait, formerly known as the Cimmerian Bosporus or Straits of Taman. It has also been called the Straits of Yenikale after the
Yeni-Kale fortress in Kerch.
Taman, the most important settlement on the Taman Peninsula side of the strait, sits on
Taman Bay
The Taman Bay (Russian language, Russian: Таманский залив) is a shallow bay or gulf on the east coast of the Strait of Kerch shaped on the southern side by the Tuzla Spit and to the north by the Chushka Spit. It dips into the Taman P ...
, which is separated from the main Kerch Strait by the
Chushka Spit to the north and the former
Tuzla Spit to the south; the Tuzla Spit is now
Tuzla Island, connected to the Taman Peninsula by a 2003 Russian-built dam, and to mainland Crimea by the
Crimean Bridge
The Crimean Bridge (, ; ), also called Kerch Strait Bridge or Kerch Bridge, is a pair of parallel bridges, one for a four-lane road and one for a double-track railway, spanning the Kerch Strait between the Taman Peninsula of Krasnodar Krai in ...
opened in 2018. A major cargo port is under construction near Taman.
History
Greek and Roman records
The straits are about long and are wide at the narrowest and separate an eastern extension 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 ...
from
Taman, the westernmost extension of the
Caucasus Mountains
The Caucasus Mountains
*
* Azerbaijani: ,
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* is a mountain range at the intersection of Asia and Europe. Stretching between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, they are surrounded by the Caucasus region ...
. In
antiquity, there seem to have been a group of islands intersected by arms of the
Kuban River
The Kuban is a river in Russia that flows through the Western Caucasus and drains into the Sea of Azov. The Kuban runs mostly through Krasnodar Krai for , but also in the Karachay–Cherkess Republic, Stavropol Krai and the Republic of Adygea. ...
(''Hypanis'') and various
sounds which have since silted up.
The Romans knew the strait as the Cimmerian Bosporus (') from its Greek name, the Cimmerian Strait (, ''Kimmérios Bosporos''), which honored the
Cimmerians
The Cimmerians were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranic Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe, part of whom subsequently migrated into W ...
, nearby
steppe
In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes.
Steppe biomes may include:
* the montane grasslands and shrublands biome
* the tropical and subtropica ...
nomads
Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, Nomadic pastoralism, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and Merchant, trader nomads. In the twentieth century, ...
. In ancient times the low-lying land near the
Strait
A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...
was known as the
Maeotic Swamp.
The Cimmerian Bosporus in ancient times was regarded as separating Europe from Asia, just as the Thracian Bosporus did. Most geographers, such as
Posidonius
Posidonius (; , "of Poseidon") "of Apameia" (ὁ Ἀπαμεύς) or "of Rhodes" (ὁ Ῥόδιος) (), was a Greeks, Greek politician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, historian, mathematician, and teacher native to Apamea (Syria), Apame ...
,
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...
(''
Geographica
The ''Geographica'' (, ''Geōgraphiká''; or , "Strabo's 17 Books on Geographical Topics") or ''Geography'', is an encyclopedia of geographical knowledge, consisting of 17 'books', written in Greek in the late 1st century BC, or early 1st cen ...
'' 11.7.4), and
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...
, considered the boundary between Europe and Asia to be the river Tanais (
Don), which flows into the Sea of Azov from the north; an alternative view, found in the poet
Cornelius Gallus was that it was the river Hypanis (
Kuban
Kuban ( Russian and Ukrainian: Кубань; ) is a historical and geographical region in the North Caucasus region of southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Don Steppe, the Volga Delta and separated fr ...
), which flows into the Sea of Azov from the east, close to the Cimmerian Bosporus.
Early modern period
The Kerch Strait was a nearby site of a major
naval battle
Naval warfare is combat in and on the sea, the ocean, or any other battlespace involving a major body of water such as a large lake or wide river.
The armed forces branch designated for naval warfare is a navy. Naval operations can be broadly d ...
(that became known as the
Battle of Kerch Strait) in the
Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792). It was fought in 1790 and ended in Russian victory.
Second World War
In the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the Kerch Peninsula became the scene of much desperate combat between forces of the
Soviet
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
and
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
. Fighting frequency intensified in the coldest months of year when the strait froze over, allowing the movement of troops over the ice.
After the
Eastern Front stabilized in early 1943,
Hitler
Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
ordered the construction of a road-and-rail bridge across the Strait of Kerch in the spring of 1943 to support his desire for a renewed offensive to the Caucasus. The cable railway (
aerial tramway
An aerial tramway, aerial tram, sky tram, cable car or aerial cablecar, aerial cableway, ropeway, téléphérique (French), or Seilbahn (German) is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary cables for support, with a third movin ...
), which went into operation on 14 June 1943 with a daily capacity of one thousand tons, was only adequate for the defensive needs of the
Seventeenth Army in the
Kuban bridgehead. Because of frequent
earth tremors, this bridge would have required vast quantities of extra-strength
steel girders, and their transport would have curtailed shipments of military material to the Crimea. The bridge was never completed, and the
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
finished evacuating the Kuban bridgehead in September 1943.
In 1944 the Soviets built a "provisional" railway bridge (
Kerch railway bridge) across the strait. Construction made use of supplies captured from the Germans. The bridge went into operation in November 1944, but moving ice floes destroyed it in February 1945; reconstruction was not attempted.
Post-war ferry service
After the war,
ferry transportation across the strait was established in 1954, connecting
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 ...
and the
Krasnodar Krai
Krasnodar Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and is administratively a part of the Southern Federal District. Its administrative center is the t ...
(
Port Krym
Port Krym (, , - literally ''Port Crimea'') is a port in Crimea. It is located on the western shore of Kerch Strait, in the north-eastern part of Kerch city near a settlement of Zhukivka. Next to the port is located the Krym railway station.
P ...
–
Port Kavkaz
Port Kavkaz () is a small harbour on the Chushka Spit in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, on the eastern side of Kerch Strait. It is adjacent to the village of Chushka (rural locality), Chushka, which is now largely deserted due to the toxic effects of the ...
line). Originally there were four
train ferry
A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry Railroad car, railway vehicles, as well as their cargoes and passengers. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with Track (rail transport), railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the f ...
ships; later three car-ferry ships were added. Train transportation continued for almost 40 years. The aging train-ferries became obsolete in the late 1980s and were removed from service. In the autumn of 2004, new ships were delivered as replacements and train transportation was re-established. The ferry line stopped operations in late 2020.
Dispute and naval treaty of 2003
A territorial dispute between Russia and Ukraine in 2003 centred on
Tuzla Island in the Strait of Kerch. Ukraine and Russia
agreed to treat the strait and the Azov Sea as shared internal waters.
Storm of November 2007

On Sunday, 11 November 2007, news agencies reported a very strong storm on the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...
. Four ships sank, six ran aground on a sandbank, and two tankers were damaged, resulting in a major oil spill and the death of 23 sailors.
The Russian
oil tanker
An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk cargo, bulk transport of petroleum, oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quant ...
sought shelter in the Kerch Strait from the above storm. In the storm, the tanker broke in two, releasing more than 2,000 tonnes of fuel oil. Four other ships sank in the storm, resulting in the release of sulphur cargo. The storm hampered efforts to rescue crew members.
Another victim of the storm, the Russian cargo ship ''Volnogorsk'', loaded with sulphur, sank at
Port Kavkaz
Port Kavkaz () is a small harbour on the Chushka Spit in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, on the eastern side of Kerch Strait. It is adjacent to the village of Chushka (rural locality), Chushka, which is now largely deserted due to the toxic effects of the ...
on the same day.
Russo-Ukrainian War since 2014
Russia and Ukraine agreed to guarantee each other freedom of navigation for ships of both nations in a
2003 naval treaty.
Since the start of the
Russo-Ukrainian War
The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...
and the
annexation of Crimea in 2014, however, Russian forces have forcibly established a new status quo, now being the straits' sole controlling power.
New bridge and naval blockade
Moscow mayor
Yuri Luzhkov campaigned for a highway bridge to be constructed across the strait. Since 1944, various bridge projects to span the strait have been proposed or attempted, always hampered by the difficult geologic and geographic configuration of the area. Construction of an approach was actually started in 2003 with the -long dam, provoking the 2003
Tuzla Island conflict.
After the
2014 Russian annexation of Crimea
In February and March 2014, Russia invaded the Crimean Peninsula, part of Ukraine, and then annexed it. This took place in the relative power vacuum immediately following the Revolution of Dignity. It marked the beginning of the Russo-Ukrain ...
the government of Russia decided to build a bridge across the Kerch Strait. The 19-kilometre
Crimean Bridge
The Crimean Bridge (, ; ), also called Kerch Strait Bridge or Kerch Bridge, is a pair of parallel bridges, one for a four-lane road and one for a double-track railway, spanning the Kerch Strait between the Taman Peninsula of Krasnodar Krai in ...
opened to road traffic in 2018 and the rail section opened in 2019.
Russian state-backed media claims that construction of the bridge caused increases in nutrients and planktons in the waters, attracting large numbers of fish and more than 1,000 endangered Black Sea
bottlenose dolphin
The bottlenose dolphin is a toothed whale in the genus ''Tursiops''. They are common, cosmopolitan members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Molecular studies show the genus contains three species: the common bot ...
s. However, Ukraine claims that the acoustic noise and pollution from both the bridge construction and military exercises may actually be killing Black Sea dolphins.
Kerch Strait incident (2018)
When two Ukrainian navy vessels tried to pass under the bridge to reach Mariupol in November 2018, Russian forces responded by blocking the straits with a large container ship. Upon turning back, the Ukrainian ships and crews were fired upon and seized by the Russian coast guard.
2019 gas tanker disaster
Two gas carriers collided and exploded in 2019, killing 14 people.
2021 closure by Russia
On 15 April 2021 Russia decided to close the area of Kerch Strait to "warships and other state vessels" from 24 April to 31 October. The stated rationale for the closure are
military exercises.
The closure partially cut off the Ukrainian ports of
Berdyansk and
Mariupol
Mariupol is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius, Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the coun ...
from the Black Sea. The
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry protested against the decision, stating that "such actions by the Russian Federation are another attempt to violate the norms and principles of international law to usurp the sovereign rights of Ukraine as a coastal state, as Ukraine has the right to regulate navigation in these areas of the Black Sea".
According to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, the decision is a violation of the
freedom of navigation
Freedom of navigation (FON) is a principle of law of the sea that ships flying the flag of any sovereign state shall not suffer interference from other states when in international waters, apart from the exceptions provided for in international ...
under the
UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The decision to close the strait was preceded by Russia's warning the United States after the
Biden administration
Joe Biden's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 46th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Joe Biden, his inauguration on January 20, 2021, and ended on January 20, 2025. Biden, a member of the Democr ...
's plan to send two
destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...
s (
USS ''Roosevelt'' and
USS ''Donald Cook'') to the Black Sea amid Russia's increasing military presence near Ukraine. The Biden administration withheld the destroyers after fighting intensified between Ukrainian and Russian-backed separatist forces in an effort to alleviate the tension.
Putin had threatened the safety of the US Navy ships, saying that they should stay away from the area “for their own good”. After the destroyers were withheld, Russia took advantage of the opening to close the Kerch Strait.
2021 ''Donbas'' incident
On 9 December 2021 left
Mariupol
Mariupol is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius, Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the coun ...
and approached Kerch Strait. It did not give a notice in advance to pass the strait, and was warned by Russian coastguard such a notice should be given for the safety of maritime traffic. At the moment about 80 civilian ships were waiting to pass the strait.
Crimean Bridge explosions
In the morning of 8 October 2022 at 06:07 (Moscow time), an explosion occurred on the road portion of the Crimean Bridge, causing major damage. Seven fuel cars of a passing railway train also ignited, causing an extensive fire on the parallel rail bridge, and two half-sections of the road bridge collapsed. On 17 July 2023, two
suicide sea drones exploded underneath and damaged a span of the road bridge.
Crimean tunnel
In late 2023 ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' reported that Russia, with the help of Chinese companies, was contemplating building a Crimean tunnel.
2024 oil spill
On 15 December 2024, the Russian oil tankers and were damaged in a storm in the Kerch Strait, resulting in an
oil spill
An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into th ...
. ''Volgoneft-212'', which was carrying about 4,900 tonnes of oil, split in two, and the bow section sank. One crew member died of hypothermia, and the remaining 12 crew members were taken to hospital. ''Volgoneft-239'', which was carrying about 4,300 tonnes of oil, became uncontrollable; drifted; and ran aground near the
Port of Taman
The Port of Taman is a seaport on the Taman Peninsula in area of Cape Zhelezniy Rog, in the village of Volna, near the village of Taman in Temryuksky District of Krasnodar Krai, Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country sp ...
,
Krasnodar Krai
Krasnodar Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and is administratively a part of the Southern Federal District. Its administrative center is the t ...
.
Efforts to rescue the crew of ''Volgoneft-239'' were suspended overnight due to bad weather, but all crew members were rescued the next day.
It was also found that day that ''Volgoneft-239'' had begun leaking oil after she ran aground,
but both leaks stopped that day.
Oil spills from both ships began drifting towards the coast northwest of the port of Taman between the
Tuzla Spit and Cape Panagiya.
Kerch–Yenikale Canal

In order to improve navigational capabilities of the Strait of Kerch, which is quite shallow in its narrowest point, the
Kerch–Yenikale Canal was dredged through the strait. The main channel can accommodate vessels up to 215 meters long with a
draft
Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...
of up to 8 meters with a compulsory
pilot
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...
assistance. The canal is not straight, and its geometry further complicates safe navigation. The narrowness, limited depth, and turns of the main channel together with the often unpredictable effects of wind and visibility (fog) mean that there are strict procedures regulating strait transit. Transit of large vessels occurs on a one-way (alternating) group convoy basis. Transit procedures have remained unchanged, whether under Soviet, Ukrainian, or Russian jurisdiction. The Vessel Traffic Control Post in Kerch controls and oversees all traffic.
Fishing
Several fish-processing plants are located on the Crimean coast of the strait. The fishing season begins in late autumn and lasts for 2 to 3 months, when many
seiners put out into the strait to fish. The
Taman Bay
The Taman Bay (Russian language, Russian: Таманский залив) is a shallow bay or gulf on the east coast of the Strait of Kerch shaped on the southern side by the Tuzla Spit and to the north by the Chushka Spit. It dips into the Taman P ...
is a major fishing ground, with many fishing villages scattered along the coast.
Notes
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Straits of Crimea
Bodies of water of the Black Sea
Straits of Russia
International straits
Russia–Ukraine border
Geography of Krasnodar Krai
Strait
A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...
Strait
A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...