... Kremlin, potentially calling for the unilateral termination of the Kharkov Agreement by Kiev[2]. On March 16, a referendum arranged by the self-proclaimed Crimean authorities resulted in 96,77% of people voting in favor of the integration of Crimea and Sevastopol into the Russian Federation[3]. The absorption of Crimea became effective on March 18, after President Vladimir Putin had signed with Crimean leaders an agreement later ratified by the Council of the Federation and then the Russian Duma. This ...
.... Consequently, since 1991, Black Sea Fleet vessels’ maintenance has been performed by Baltic shipyards (either in Kaliningrad or in Saint Petersburg), and by Bulgarian shipyard (Varna), and, occasionally, by the Ship Repair Plant n° 13 in Sevastopol. This precarious maritime situation was one of the factors, with tensed relations with Kiev around the basing of the Black Sea fleet in Crimea, poor conditions for the personnel and unsufficient supply of new hardware to quote a few, that hampered ...
... 877V), 3 frigates (Projects 61M, 1135 and 1135M), 7 amphibious ships (Projects 775 and 1171), and several small units (antisubmarine warfare boats, small missile or artillery boats). Nearly 90% of the tonnage of the fleet is based in Crimea, mainly in Sevastopol (80%), and in Feodossia (9%)[1]. In 2014, the overall average age of the around 40 combat units is 36 years. The Black Sea Fleet is served by 12 000 to 16 000 service men dispatched primarily in Crimea, but in other naval and air assets such ...
... Kerch-Feodossia-Djhankoi line (207 kilometers), and to build a new line connecting Simferopol to Feodossia (nearly 120 kilometers)[11]. Once the Kerch Strait Bridge is built, the heart of Crimea will be directly connected to Russia’s Kuban, putting Simferopol, and Sevastopol (the Sevastopol-Simferopol line already exists), from a few hours from Novorossiysk.
The other issue is energy supplies to Crimea. Currently, the peninsula produces 10% to 30% of its needs, while the rest of the electricity, around 1,400 megawatts,...
