talks about Crimea Bridge , which is inseparable from Crimea itself.
Crimea is located in southern Ukraine, in the north of the Black Sea , with an area of about 26,000 square kilometers and a population of more than 2 million. It has a very important strategic position. In history, whoever controls Crimea controls the Black Sea theory.
In the process of the rise of Tsarist Russia, its sphere of influence spanned a vast area of the northern Black Sea and Crimean Peninsula (dependent on Ottoman Türkiye) was once a strong enemy. However, with the Russian-Turkish wars and direct attacks from the Tsarist Russian army, the Crimean Khanate was eventually destroyed, and the Tsarist Russian forces covered the Black Sea.
1783, Crimea was officially incorporated into Tsarist Russia; by the 1850s, the famous Crimean War broke out; during the World War II period, Crimea was also an important battlefield. However, after all the wars, Crimea has always belonged to Russia. After many incidents, the local population is mainly Russian.
However, things changed in 1954, when to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Russian-Ukrainian merger, and there were some other factors, the place was included in Ukraine by Khrushchev.
In the environment at that time, this was the administrative division of within the Soviet Union, so the problem was not too serious. However, after , the Soviet Union collapsed, , each , joined the republic, , went their separate ways, the problem arose.
In the 1990s, there were many conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, and it was even tense at one time. Crimea also had many radical actions. However, under the actual environment at that time, the compromise result of Crimea returning to Ukraine and the Russian Black Sea Fleet renting a base was finally formed.
However, in Russia, this result is not accepted. The doubts about the legal process of Crimea entering Ukraine and the trend of hope that one day we will get back Crimea has always existed. In addition, Crimea itself also tends to be Moscow due to historical, realistic and economic factors.
By 2014, after Russia controlled Crimea, it was incorporated into the Russian Federation. Ukraine certainly strongly opposed this, and also took measures including water cuts to block Crimea. Although there has not been a fierce war between Crimea and the northern Khlsun State like that of Donbas , it is also in a state of severe military confrontation.
In order to strengthen control over Crimea, Russia needs to deploy a large amount of military power; at the same time, in order to maintain the economy of Crimea, strengthen the confidence of local people in entering Russia and give due returns, Russia also needs to import a large amount of investment, aid and supplies.
However, under the measures of water cutoff and diplomatic cessation in Ukraine, Crimea can only communicate with the Russian mainland on the east side through sea routes, which is obviously a big disadvantage.
Therefore, as early as March 19, 2014, the second day after Crimea's referendum to Russia, Russian President Putin stated that he would build a bridge between the peninsula and the Russian mainland.
We can actually know when we look at the map. There is Kerch Strait between Crimea and Russia, which communicates Azov Sea and the Black Sea.
Kerch Strait is 41 kilometers long, 4 to 45 kilometers wide, and 5 to 15 meters deep. In the past, it used to communicate with ships to both sides of the Taiwan Strait. It is obviously reasonable to build a bridge here.
But if it is reasonable, the construction of this bridge has suffered a lot.
In fact, as early as the Imperial Russia period, there was a plan to build a bridge in the Kerch Strait, but it did not come true. By the Soviet era, the bridge was really started to be built, but the first one to build the bridge was not the Soviets, but the Germans.
In 1942, with the fall of Sevastopol , the German army finally controlled Crimea.
Then the German army had the need to fight in the direction of Caucasus , so under the idea of the Minister of Arms and Architect Albert Spel, the architect, began to build the cross-sea bridge .
Since the spring of 1943, the Germans first built a cableway for supplies on the strait, and then officially opened a bridge.However, by the autumn, as the Soviet counterattack approached, the Germans were forced to destroy the completed part.
After the Soviet army recovered the Chi Strait, there was naturally a need for transporting troops and materials. So, it was rebuilt on the basis of the German artificial bridge and built a 4.5-kilometer-long railway bridge in November 1944 to cross the narrowest part of the strait.
In February 1945, when the Soviet delegation attended the Yalta Conference, , he passed through this bridge. However, the good times did not last long. Due to the lack of protection for the bridge piers, the bridge piers were damaged by floes and floes on February 18, and the bridge was severely damaged and had to be closed.
A year later, the Soviet Union gave up its plan to repair the bridge and demolished all the bridges.
In order to facilitate the connection between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, a ferry was built on the original bridge site in 1953 to communicate between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait through ferries. Compared with the bridge, ferries are obviously not very convenient and have relatively few transportation volumes.
There have been many ideas on rebuilding the Crimea Bridge over the years since then, but they have not been implemented until the collapse of the Soviet Union.
However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, plans to communicate with the Kerch Peninsula and the Taman Peninsula were still constantly proposed. In 1994, there was even the idea of an undersea tunnel. Of course, for Russia and Ukraine, which were extremely exhausted at the time, this plan was not feasible.
It was not until 2010 that the then Ukrainian president janukovic and the then Russian president Medvedev agreed to build the Crimea Bridge.
But Yanukovych's position was not firmly seated, and the bridge was not started at all.
Until Crimea entered Russia in 2014, Russian President Putin ordered the construction of a bridge and elevated it to the height of a "historical mission" for political, military, economic and other considerations.
Since 2015, relevant Russian construction units have overcome political sanctions and many harsh natural conditions and began to build the Crimea Bridge. The
Bridge was selected on the south side of the original bridge site, and through Tuzla Island in the strait, connects the Kerch Peninsula in Crimea on the west and the Taman Peninsula in Russia on the east. The bridge is divided into , two-way four-lane, , and a double-track railway bridge, with a huge project volume.
By May 15, 2018, the 18.1-kilometer-long highway bridge was partially completed, Russian President Putin personally drove a large truck through the bridge to celebrate its opening, with its traffic capacity reaching 15,000 vehicles per day; by December 23, 2019, the 16.9-kilometer-long railway bridge was partially opened, and the Crimea Bridge was fully opened.
During the construction of several years, the Crimea Bridge cost 227.9 billion ruble (about 3.7 billion US dollars at the time), which is quite expensive. Of course, after the bridge is completed, the various roles it can play are also extremely important.
