Editing Sea of Azov (section)

==History==
===Prehistory===
{{Main|Black Sea deluge theory}}
There are traces of [[Neolithic]] settlement in the area now covered by the sea.

In 1997, William Ryan and [[Walter Pitman (geologist)|Walter Pitman]] of [[Columbia University]] published a theory that a massive flood through the [[Bosporus]] occurred in ancient times. They claim that the Black and [[Caspian Sea]]s were vast freshwater lakes, but in about {{nowrap|5600 BC}} the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] spilled over a rocky [[sill (geology)|sill]] at the Bosporus, creating the current link between the Black and Mediterranean Seas. Subsequent work has been done both to support and to discredit this theory, and archaeologists still debate it. This has led some to associate this catastrophe with prehistoric [[Deluge (mythology)|flood myths]].<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/S0025-3227(97)00007-8 |url=http://www.geoecomar.ro/website/publicatii/Nr.2-1997/10.WilliamBFRyan.pdf |title=An abrupt drowning of the Black Sea shelf |year=1997 |last1=Ryan |first1=W |journal=Marine Geology |volume=138 |issue=1–2 |page=119|bibcode=1997MGeol.138..119R |citeseerx=10.1.1.598.2866 |s2cid=129316719 |issn = 0025-3227}}</ref>
[[File:Greek colonies of the Northern Euxine Sea (Black Sea).svg|thumb|[[Colonies in antiquity|Ancient Greek colonies]] in the north Black Sea, 8th to 3rd century BC, along with their modern names]]

===Antiquity===
{{main|Bosporan Kingdom}}
The [[Maeotian Swamp|Maeotian marshes]] around the mouth of the [[Tanais River]] (the present-day [[Don River, Russia|Don]]) were famous in [[classical antiquity|antiquity]], as they served as an important check on the migration of nomadic people from the [[Eurasian steppe]]lands. The [[Maeotians]] themselves lived by fishing and farming, but were avid warriors able to defend themselves against invaders.<ref name=straystray>[[Strabo]]. ''[[Geographica (Strabo)|Geographica]]'', xi. {{in lang|la}}.</ref> Misled by its strong currents,<ref name=eb9/> [[History of geography#Antiquity|ancient geographers]] had only a vague idea of the extent of the sea, whose fresh water caused them to typically label it a "swamp" or a "lake". [[Herodotus]] (5th century BC) judged it as large as the [[Black Sea]], while the [[Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax|Pseudo-Scylax]] (4th century BC) thought it about half as large.<ref name=digrog/>

It was long believed to provide direct communication with the [[Arctic Ocean]].<ref name=eb9/> [[Polybius]] (2nd century BC) confidently expected that the strait to the Sea of Azov would close in the near future, due to ongoing deposition of sediments from rivers.<ref>[[Polybius]]. {{lang|grc|Ἱστορίαι}} [''Historíai'', ''[[The Histories (Polybius)|The Histories]]''], iv.39. {{in lang|grc}}</ref> In the 1st century, [[Strabo]] reckoned the distance from the Cimmerian Bosporus (the [[Strait of Kerch]]) to the mouth of the Tanais at {{nowrap|2200 [[stadion (unit of length)|stadia]]}}, a roughly correct figure,{{efn
|The length of the [[stadion (unit of length)|stadion]] varies in Strabo's work depending upon his sources and conversions,<ref>
[[Strabo]]. ''[[Geographica (Strabo)|Geographica]]''. Trans. by H.C. Hamilton as [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239%3Abook%3Dpreface ''The Geography of Strabo'', "Preface"]. George Bell & Sons (London), 1903.</ref> but this would have been around 350 to 400 kilometres.}} but did not know that its width continuously narrows.<ref name=digrog/>

[[Miletus|Milesian]] [[Greek colonization|colonization]] began in the 7th century BC. The [[Bosporan Kingdom]] was named for the Cimmerian Bosporus rather than for the more famous [[Bosporus]] at the other end of the [[Black Sea]]. Briefly annexed by [[Kingdom of Pontus|Pontus]] from the late 2nd century BC, it stretched along both southern shores of the Sea of Azov from the time of [[Greek colonization]] to the end of the [[Roman Empire]], serving as a [[client kingdom]] which exported wheat, fish, and [[slavery in antiquity|slaves]] in exchange for Greek and Roman manufactures and luxuries. Its later history is uncertain but probably the [[Huns]], after defeating the [[Alans|Alans people]] who had settled in the region from central Asia, overran it in the late 4th century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sinor |first1=Denis |author1-link=Denis Sinor |title=The Cambridge history of early Inner Asia |date=1990 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0521243041 |page=180 |edition=2004}}</ref>

===Azov campaigns of 1695–96 and 1736–37===
[[File:Capture of Azov 1696.png|thumb|Capture of Azov 1696, painting by [[Robert Ker Porter]].]]
{{main|Azov campaigns}}
The Sea of Azov was frequently the scene of military conflicts between Russia, pursuing naval expansion to the south, and the major power in the region, [[Ottoman Empire|Turkey]]. During the [[Russo-Turkish War (1686–1700)]], there were two campaigns in 1695–96 to capture the then Turkish fortress of Azov defended by a garrison of 7,000. The campaigns were headed by [[Peter I of Russia|Peter I]] and aimed to gain Russian access to the Sea of Azov and Black Sea. The first campaign began in the spring of 1695. The Russian army consisted of 31 thousand men and 170 cannons and included selected trained regiments and [[Cossacks]]. It reached Azov on 27–28 June and besieged it by land by 5 July. After two unsuccessful assaults on 5 August and 25 September, the siege was lifted.<ref name=bse95/>

The second campaign involved both ground forces and the Azov fleet, which was built in Moscow Oblast, Voronezh, Bryansk and other regions between winter 1695 and spring 1696. In April 1696, the army of 75,000 headed by [[Aleksei Shein]] moved to Azov by land and by ship via the Don River to Taganrog. In early May, they were joined by another fleet led by Peter I. On 27 May, the Russian fleet blocked Azov by sea. On 14 June, the Turkish fleet tried to break the blockade but, after losing two ships, retreated to the sea. After intensive bombardment of the fortress from land and sea, on 17 July the Russian army broke the defense lines and occupied parts of the wall. After heavy fighting, the garrison surrendered on 17 July. After the war, the Russian fleet base was moved to Taganrog and Azov, and 215 ships were built there between 1696 and 1711. In 1711, as a result of the [[Russo-Turkish War (1710–1711)]] and the [[Treaty of the Pruth]], Azov was returned to Turkey and the Russian Azov fleet was destroyed.<ref name=bse95>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://bse.sci-lib.com/article003498.html|language=ru|title=Azov campaign 1695–96|encyclopedia=[[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]|access-date=June 20, 2010}}</ref><ref name=bsefleet>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://bse.sci-lib.com/article003510.html|language=ru|title=Azov fleet|encyclopedia=[[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]}}</ref> The city was recaptured by Russia in 1737 during the [[Russo-Austrian-Turkish War (1735–1739)]]. However, as a result of the consequent [[Treaty of Niš (1739)|Treaty of Niš]], Russia was not allowed to keep the fortress and military fleet.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sokolov |first=B. V. |url=http://www.bibliotekar.ru/encW/100/62.htm |title=Russo-Turkish Wars of 18th–19th Centuries |language=ru}}</ref>

===Crimean War 1853–1856===
[[File:1stsiege taganrog.jpg|thumb|Gravure showing the first attack on Taganrog.]]
{{main|Crimean War|Siege of Taganrog}}
Another major military campaign on the Sea of Azov took place during the [[Crimean War]] of 1853–56. A naval and ground campaign pitting the allied navies of [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]] and France against Russia took place between May and November 1855. The British and French forces besieged [[Taganrog]], aiming to disrupt Russian supplies to Crimea. Capturing Taganrog would also result in an attack on Rostov, which was a strategic city for Russian support of their Caucasian operations. On 12 May 1855, the allied forces easily captured Kerch and gained access to the Sea of Azov, and on 22 May they attacked Taganrog. The attack failed and was followed by a siege. Despite the vast superiority of the allied forces (about 16,000 soldiers against fewer than 2,000), the city withstood all attempts to capture it, which ended around August 1855 with the retreat of the allied army. Individual coastal attacks continued without success and ceased in October 1855.<ref>{{cite book |last=Filevsky |first=Pavel |title=''History of Taganrog'' |place=Moscow |publisher=Tipo-lit |year=1898}}</ref>

===21st century===
In December 2003, Ukraine and the Russian Federation agreed in a [[Treaty Between the Russian Federation and Ukraine on Cooperation in the Use of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait|treaty]] to treat the sea and the Kerch Strait as shared internal waters.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ecolex.org/details/treaty/agreement-between-the-russian-federation-and-the-ukraine-on-cooperation-in-the-use-of-the-sea-of-azov-and-the-strait-of-kerch-tre-149547/|title=Agreement between the Russian Federation and the Ukraine on cooperation in the use of the sea of Azov and the strait of Kerch|website=www.ecolex.org|access-date=2018-11-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = http://people.ucalgary.ca/~amcewen/Azov-Kerch.pdf|title = Russia – Ukraine Boundary in the Sea of Azov and Kerch Strait|url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140514090446/http://people.ucalgary.ca/~amcewen/Azov-Kerch.pdf |archive-date=May 14, 2014 |first = Alec|last = McEwan}}</ref>

In September 2018, Ukraine announced the intention to add [[Ukrainian Navy|navy]] ships and further ground forces along the coast of the Sea of Azov, with the ships based at [[Berdiansk]]. The military posturing was exacerbated following the construction of the [[Crimean Bridge]], which is too low to allow passage of [[Panamax]] ships into Ukraine's port.<ref name="2018-09-24_stratfor">[https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/ukraine-and-russia-take-their-conflict-sea Ukraine and Russia Take Their Conflict to the Sea], [[Stratfor]], 2018-09-24</ref> Late that September, two Ukrainian vessels departed from the [[Black Sea]] port [[Odesa]], passed under the Crimean Bridge, and arrived in [[Mariupol]].<ref>[https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-defense/2551703-dmytro-kovalenko-commander-of-the-ukrainian-navy-move-to-azov-sea.html Dmytro Kovalenko, commander of the Ukrainian Navy move to Azov Sea], [[Ukrinform]] (4 October 2018)</ref> Tensions increased further after the [[Kerch Strait incident]] in November 2018, when Russia seized three Ukrainian Navy vessels attempting to enter the Sea of Azov.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ukraine's ports partially unblocked by Russia, says Kiev |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/04/ukraine-ports-partially-unblocked-by-russia-says-kiev |access-date=6 December 2018 |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=4 December 2018 |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref>

Control of the western shore of the Sea is vital to the economy of Ukraine but it is also of immense strategic importance to Russia, as a land route to Crimea as well as it is for passage by Russian marine traffic.<ref>[https://www.mei.edu/publications/russian-dominance-black-sea-sea-azov Russian dominance in the Black Sea: The Sea of Azov], ''[[Middle East Institute]]'', Luke Coffey, September 25, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2022.</ref>

On December 10, 2021, the Ukrainian Navy announced that Russia had blocked off nearly 70 percent of the Sea of Azov, issuing navigation warnings, ostensibly to conduct artillery fire exercises on the sea ..."near Mariupol, Berdyansk and Henichesk."<ref name=aggression>[https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-azov-sea-russia-tensions/31604367.html Ukraine Says Russia Blocking Most Of Sea Of Azov As Tensions Mount Between Kyiv And Moscow], ''[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]]'', December 11, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2022.</ref> It raised apprehension regarding a potential Russian invasion since it had begun amassing tens of thousands of troops near the southeast Ukraine border and had begun a propaganda war against the Kyiv government.<ref name=aggression/> The Russians seized three Ukrainian military vessel as the boats were trying to cross the strait, and captured 24 sailors who were finally released after months of negotiations.<ref name=aggression/>

On February 24, 2022, Russian forces began shelling Mariupol at the start of the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Vasovic|first=Aleksandar|date=24 February 2022|title=Port city of Mariupol comes under fire after Russia invades Ukraine|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/strategic-city-mariupol-wakes-blasts-russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24/|access-date=23 March 2022|archive-date=26 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226011024/https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/strategic-city-mariupol-wakes-blasts-russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/02/1112662 Ukraine Crisis: Protecting civilians 'Priority Number One'; Guterres releases $20M for humanitarian support]. ''UN News''. 24 February 2022. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220301084123/https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/02/1112662 |date=1 March 2022 }}</ref> By May, with the end of the [[siege of Mariupol]], Russia fully captured the city and blocked off Ukraine's access to the sea by controlling the entire north [[Pryazovia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2022/05/18/1099885151/mariupol-falls-ukraine-russia-what-it-means |title=Mariupol has fallen to Russia. Here's what that means for Ukraine |website=NPR|date=19 May 2022}}</ref>