The Geopolitics of the Black Sea and Russian Control of Strategic Waterways: The Kerch Strait and the Sea of ​​Azov

By: Prof Michel Chossudovsky Globalization

Introduction

Historically, the  Kerch Strait  in eastern Crimea has played a strategic role.

It forms a narrow sea gate linking the Black Sea via the Sea of ​​Azov with Russia’s major waterways, including the Don and the Volga.

It also ensures sea transit from the Black Sea to Moscow not to mention  the strategic sea route between the Caspian Sea (via the Volga-Don Canal) to the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. 

Map: The United System of Deep Waterways of European Russia

The Volga also links the Caspian Sea with the Baltic Sea, as well as with  the Northern Sea route  , via the  Volga-Baltic Waterway.  (see above)

The Volga is connected to a canal system (through the Onega, Ladoga lakes) to  the Neva River and St. Petersburg. (See map below)

At stake is an integrated system of waterways connecting the Black and Caspian Seas with the Baltic and Northern Sea Routes.

In this sense, the Kerch Strait in eastern Crimea is strategic.

The 2014 Union of Crimea with Russia redefines the geography and geopolitical chessboard of the Black Sea basin

Since 2014, Crimea’s reunion with the Russian Federation represented a major setback for the US and NATO, whose long-standing goal was to integrate Ukraine into NATO, while also expanding the Western military presence in the Sea Basin. Black. (See details below)

Brief remarks on the war in Ukraine:   The Sea of ​​Azov is strategic. Ukraine has no maritime access. 

As far as the Ukrainian War is concerned, Russia’s control of the Kerch Strait plays a key role. In recent developments (June 2022), Russia now controls the entire Sea of ​​Azov basin.

Ukraine does not have maritime access to the Sea of ​​Azov and eastern Ukraine  , nor does it have naval power in the Black Sea.

Without a navy  (and without an Air Force that was first destroyed in late February), Ukraine is in no position to win this war. The Peace Negotiations that began in Istanbul at the end of March  , which were the object of political sabotage, constitute the only way out. 

Ukraine’s Berdyansk Naval Base   (a 2020 Zelensky initiative) on the western coast of Azov is under Russian control. All major ports stretching from  Mariupol  to  Kherson  are under Russian control.

Russia occupies Kherson and    controls the access of Ukraine’s main waterway, the Dnieper, to and from the Black Sea    (  see second map below: The Dnieper is, in some respects, a seaway  )  . The Dnieper is an important freight transport corridor for grain.

In the context of the Ukraine War, through their military deployments in Donetsk and Luhansk, Russian forces have consolidated their control over the entire Sea of ​​Azov basin.

The map below (June 2, 2022) indicates the areas of Russian deployment and control from north of Lugansk (territories facing Kharkov) to Kherson on the Dnieper.

Flashback: The 2014 Treaty between Russia and Crimea

With the Treaty of March 18, 2014 signed between Russia and Crimea, the Russian Federation has expanded its control over the Black Sea and the Sea of ​​Azov.

According to the agreement between Russia and Crimea announced by President Putin in 2014, two “constituent regions” of Crimea joined the Russian Federation: the “Republic of Crimea” and the “City of Sevastopol”. Both have the status of “autonomous regions”. Sevastopol’s status as a separate autonomous entity from Crimea is related to the location of Russia’s naval base in Sevastopol.

Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia has maintained its naval base in Sevastopol under a bilateral agreement with Ukraine. With the signing of the Treaty on March 18, 2014, said agreement became null and void. Sevastopol, including the Russian naval base, became part of an autonomous region within the Russian Federation. Prior to March 2014, the naval base was not within Ukraine under a lease. In addition, since 2014, the territorial waters of Crimea belong to the Russian Federation.

Following the union of Crimea with Russia, the Russian Federation now controls a much larger portion of the Black Sea, which includes  the entire coastline of the Crimean peninsula. The eastern part of Crimea  – including the Kerch Strait – is under Russian jurisdiction. On the eastern side of the Kerch Strait is  Russia’s Krasnodar region, and stretching to the south are the port cities of Novorossiysk and Sochi. 

The geopolitics of oil and gas pipelines

Novorossiysk is also strategic. It is Russia’s largest trading port on the Black Sea, at the junction of major oil and gas pipelines between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.

Although the main strategic pipeline route is between Novorossiysk and Baku, there is a gas pipeline nexus between Russia, Kazakhstan, Iran, Turkmenistan, connecting with China.

Before Russia’s “invasion” of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Putin signed “a comprehensive agreement” with Azerbaijani President  Ilham Aliyev  .

Kerch Strait: History

Historically, the Kerch Strait has played a strategic role. It forms a gateway from the Black Sea to Russia’s major waterways, including the Don and the Volga.

During World War II, the Kerch Peninsula  was occupied by Nazi Germany (recaptured by the Red Army)  and was an important transit point by land and water.

In the coldest winter months, it became an ice bridge linking Crimea with the Krasnodar region.

The Kerch Strait is about 5 kilometers long and 4.5 km wide. wide at the narrowest point between the tip of eastern Crimea and the Taman Peninsula. Kerch is an important commercial port linked to rail, ferry and river routes.

right image: Kerch Strait, photo taken from the Crimean side, (before the construction of the bridge) wide strait, aerial view of the strait and the Taman Peninsula.

The Sea of ​​Azov: geopolitical center

It is noteworthy that as a result of the integration of Crimea into the Russian Federation in 2014, Moscow gained full control of the Kerch Strait linking the Black Sea with the Sea of ​​Azov. The bilateral agreement between Russia and Ukraine governing the sea route through the Kerch Straits was annulled.

The strait also forms an entry point to Russia’s major waterways.

The Sea of ​​Azov connects with the Don River and the Volga, through the Volga Don Canal. In turn, the Volga flows into the Caspian Sea.

The Kerch Strait is strategic.  The Kerch-Yenikalskiy Canal  allows the transit of large (ocean) ships from the Black Sea to the Sea of ​​Azov.

As stated above, the Kerch Strait links the Black Sea with the Volga through the Sea of ​​Azov and the Volga Don Canal, which in turn connects with St. Petersburg and the Baltic Sea. The Volga also connects with Moscow, through the Moscow River through the Volga-Moskva Canal.

Note:  The Caspian Sea Basin is, in a sense, “landlocked”. Its only access to the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean  is through the Volga  . The same applies to its access to the Atlantic through the Baltic Sea, or through the White Sea, the Barents Sea and the Northeast Arctic Passage to the Pacific.

Strategic channels. In summary

1. Caspian Sea- Volga, Volga-Don Canal, Don, – Sea of ​​Azov – Black Sea, Mediterranean
2. Black Sea- Sea of ​​Azov -Don- Volga Canal Don -Volga -Volga-Moskva Canal, Moscow River, Moscow
3. Black Sea- Sea of ​​Azov -Don- Volga Don Canal -Volga -Neva, Saint Petersburg, Baltic Sea
4. Caspian Sea, Volga, Neva, Svir, Lake Onega, White Sea Canal,   North Sea and Northeast Arctic Passage

Volga–Don Canal

Russia-Ukraine relations over the Kerch Strait

In December 2013, Moscow signed a bilateral agreement with the Yanukovych government in kyiv related to the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait, connecting eastern Crimea (which was part of Ukraine) with Russia’s Krasnodar region.

That agreement was a continuation of an initial agreement signed in April 2010 between the two governments.

The 2013 Russia-Ukraine agreement regarding the construction of the bridge had already been scrapped for all purposes before March 16, 2014.

Right image: The new Kerch Bridge links eastern Crimea (road and rail transport) with the Russian region of Krasnodar. (right image).

The union of Crimea with Russia was already in the process before the referendum, it was a  fait accompli  .

Less than two weeks before the March 16, 2014 Referendum, at the height of the crisis in Ukraine, Russia’s Prime Minister  Dmitry Medvedev  ordered the state-owned road construction corporation Avtodor, or “Russian Highways” ” to create a subsidiary company that would supervise the construction of a bridge over the Kerch Strait.”

This bridge is oriented to the rail transport routes linking Western and Eastern Europe with the Caspian Sea basin, Kazakhstan and China. Therefore, it is an integral part of the Eurasian Project (which ties in with China’s Belt and Road initiative).  

Michel Chossudovsky

Michel Chossudovsky:  Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa, is founder and director of the Center for Research on Globalization ( Global Research ). His writings have been published in more than 20 languages, he is an anti-globalization and anti-war activist. He has acted as a visiting professor in academic organizations in Eastern Europe, Latin America and Southeast Asia, as well as an advisor to governments in developing countries and a consultant to international organizations such as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). He has been awarded the Gold Medal of the Republic of Serbia for his writings on the NATO war of aggression against Yugoslavia (2014).

Original article in English:

Black Sea Geopolitics and Russia’s Control of Strategic Waterways: The Kerch Strait and the Sea of ​​Azov , published June 8, 2022.

Translated exclusively for the Global Research Center .The original source of this article is GlobalizationCopyright © Prof Michel Chossudovsky , Globalization, 2022

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