Editing Sevastopol (section)

===Part of Ukraine===
[[File:Музей Черноморского флота.jpg|thumb|The Black Sea Fleet Museum]]
<!--Following the break-up of the Soviet Union, the [[Congress of People's Deputies of Russia]] "questioned" the legal status of Sevastopol and requested the [[Supreme Soviet of Russia]] to "define" it.

On 11 December 1992, the [[President of Ukraine]] called the attempt of the Russian deputies to charge the Russian parliament with the task of defining the status of Sevastopol as an "imperial disease". On 17 December 1992, the Office of the Ukrainian Presidential Representative in [[Crimea]] was created, which caused a wave of protests a month later. Among the protesters who organised the unsanctioned rally were the Sevastopol branches of the National Salvation Front, the Russian Popular Assembly, and the All-Crimean Movement of the Voters for the Republic of Crimea. The protest was held in Sevastopol on 10 January on [[Nakhimov Square]].{{citation needed|date=December 2014}}

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Following [[Ukraine]]'s declaration of [[History of Ukraine#Independence|independence]] from the USSR in 1991, Sevastopol became the principal base of the [[Ukrainian navy]]. As the key naval base of the former Soviet [[Black Sea Fleet]], it was a source of tensions for [[Russia–Ukraine relations]] until a [[Partition Treaty on the Status and Conditions of the Black Sea Fleet|set-term lease agreement]] was signed in 1997.

On 10 July 1993, the [[Russian parliament]] passed a resolution declaring Sevastopol to be "a federal Russian city".<ref name="doyle">''Secession as an International Phenomenon: From America's Civil War to Contemporary Separatist Movements'' edited by Don Harrison Doyle (page 284)</ref> At the time, many supporters of President [[Boris Yeltsin]] had ceased taking part in{{clarify|date=October 2022}} the parliament's work.<ref>{{Citation | first = Serge | last = Schmemann | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1993/07/10/world/russian-parliament-votes-a-claim-to-ukrainian-port-of-sevastopol.html | title = Russian Parliament Votes a Claim to Russian Port of Sevastopol | newspaper = [[The New York Times]] | date = 10 July 1993}}</ref> On 20 July 1993, the [[United Nations Security Council]] denounced the decision of the Russian parliament. According to [[Anatoliy Zlenko]], it was the first time that the council had to review and qualify actions of a legislative body.<ref name=myths>{{cite web|url=http://ukrlife.org/main/uacrim/obermif34.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141208165334/http://ukrlife.org/main/uacrim/obermif34.htm|title=Українське життя в Севастополi Михайло ЛУКІНЮК ОБЕРЕЖНО: МІФИ! Міф про юридичну належність Севастополя Росії|archive-date=8 December 2014|work=ukrlife.org|via=archive.org|trans-title=Ukrainian life in Sevastopol Mykhailo LUKINYUK CAUTION: MYTHS! The myth of the legal affiliation of Sevastopol in Russia }}</ref>

On 14 April 1993, the Presidium of the Crimean Parliament called for the creation of the presidential post of the Crimean Republic.{{clarify|date=October 2022}} A week later, the Russian deputy, Valentin Agafonov, said that [[Russia]] was ready to supervise a referendum on Crimean independence and include the republic as a separate entity in the [[Commonwealth of Independent States|CIS]]. On 28 July 1993, one of the leaders of the Russian Society of Crimea, Viktor Prusakov, said that his organisation was ready for an armed mutiny and the establishment of Russian administration of Sevastopol.

In September, the commander of the joint Russian-Ukrainian Black Sea Fleet, {{ill|Eduard Baltin|ru|Балтин, Эдуард Дмитриевич|vertical-align=sup}}, accused Ukraine of converting some of his fleet and conducting an armed assault on his personnel and threatened to take countermeasures placing the fleet on alert. (In June 1992, the Russian president Yeltsin and the Ukrainian president [[Leonid Kravchuk]] had agreed to divide the former Soviet Black Sea Fleet between Russia and Ukraine. Eduard Baltin had been appointed commander of the Black Sea Fleet by Yeltsin and Kravchuk on 15 January 1993.)

The Moscow mayor [[Yury Luzhkov]] to claim{{clarify|date=October 2022}} the city, and in December 1996, the Russian [[Federation Council (Russia)|Federation Council]] officially endorsed the claim, threatening negotiations. In response, Ukraine proposed a "special partnership" with NATO in January 1997.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Glenn E. |first=Curtis |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/97007563 |title=Russia: A Country Study |publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress |year=1998 |isbn=0-8444-0866-2 |location=Washington, D.C. |page=xcii |oclc=36351361}}</ref>

In May 1997, Russia and Ukraine signed the [[Russian–Ukrainian Friendship Treaty]], ruling out Moscow's territorial claims to Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Review of Ukraine base lease 'fatal,' Russia warns|url=http://english.people.com.cn/200512/28/eng20051228_231329.html|newspaper=People's Daily|location=Beijing, China|date=28 December 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060117111808/http://english.people.com.cn/200512/28/eng20051228_231329.html|archive-date=17 January 2006|url-status=dead|access-date=12 June 2012}}</ref> This was followed by the [[Partition Treaty on the Status and Conditions of the Black Sea Fleet]] on 28 May 1997. A separate agreement established the terms of a long-term lease of land, facilities, and resources in Sevastopol and the Crimea by Russia.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} Russia kept its naval base, with around 15,000 troops stationed in Sevastopol.<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Şafak|last1= Oğuz|url=https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/355595|title=Russian Hybrid Warfare and Its Implications in The Black Sea|journal=Bölgesel Araştırmalar Dergisi|date=1 May 2017|via=Paperity.org|volume=1|issue=1|page=10|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200711010100/https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/355595|archive-date=11 July 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Vladimir Putin in Ukraine 28-29 July 2001-17.jpg|thumb|Russian president [[Vladimir Putin]] with Ukrainian president [[Leonid Kuchma]] on board the Black Sea Fleet's flagship in July 2001]]
The ex-Soviet Black Sea Fleet and its facilities were divided between Russia's Black Sea Fleet and the [[Ukrainian Navy|Ukrainian Naval Forces]]. The two navies co-used some of the city's harbours and piers, while others were demilitarised or used by either{{clarify|date=October 2022}} country. Sevastopol remained the location of the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters, and the Ukrainian Naval Forces Headquarters were also located in the city. A judicial row periodically continued over the naval [[hydrography|hydrographic]] infrastructure both in Sevastopol and on the Crimean coast (especially [[lighthouses]] historically maintained by the Soviet and Russian Navy and also used for civil navigation support).

As in the rest of Crimea, Russian remained the predominant language of the city, although following the independence of Ukraine there were some attempts at [[Ukrainisation]], with very little success. Russian society in general and even some outspoken government representatives never accepted the loss of Sevastopol and tended to regard it as temporarily separated from Russia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ua.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/2/21/54793.htm|title=Лужков знайшов у серці рану і хоче почувати себе в Криму як вдома|work=pravda.com.ua|trans-title=Luzhkov has found a wound in his heart and wants to feel at home in the Crimea|language=uk|access-date=22 March 2007|archive-date=19 March 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070319203900/http://ua.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/2/21/54793.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In July 2009, the chairman of the [[Sevastopol City Council]], Valeriy Saratov ([[Party of Regions]]),<ref>{{Citation|url=http://www.kyivpost.com/nation/29585/print |title=Calm sea in Sevastopol |newspaper=[[Kyiv Post]] |date=4 September 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915170100/http://www.kyivpost.com/nation/29585/print |archive-date=15 September 2008 }}</ref> said that Ukraine should increase the amount of compensation it is paying to the city of Sevastopol for hosting the foreign Russian Black Sea Fleet, instead of requesting such compensation from the Russian government and the Russian Ministry of Defense in particular.<ref>{{Citation|url=http://www.kyivpost.com/nation/46037 |title=Sevastopol authorities asking to raise compensation fees for Russian Black Sea Fleet's basing |newspaper=[[Kyiv Post]] |date=28 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301020957/http://www.kyivpost.com/nation/46037 |archive-date=1 March 2012 }}</ref>

On 27 April 2010, Russia and Ukraine ratified the [[Russian Ukrainian Naval Base for Gas treaty]], which extended the Russian Navy's lease of the Crimean facilities for 25 years after 2017 (through 2042) with the option to prolong the lease in five-year extensions. The ratification process in the [[Ukrainian parliament]] encountered stiff opposition and even resulted in a brawl in the parliament chamber. Eventually, the treaty was ratified by a 52% majority vote—236 of 450. The [[Russian Duma]] ratified the treaty by a 98% majority.<ref>{{Citation | place = [[United Kingdom|UK]] | publisher = BBC | newspaper = World | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8645847.stm | title = Parliamentary chaos as Ukraine ratifies fleet deal | date = 27 April 2010}}</ref>