Black Sea Fleet

The Russian Navy’s fleet operating in the Black Sea and adjacent waters, historically based at Sevastopol. Its access to the Mediterranean depends on passage through the Turkish straits.

Turkish Straits: The Bosporus, Sea of Marmara, and Dardanelles form the maritime route between the Black Sea and Mediterranean. Their legal regime governs the fleet’s passage beyond the Black Sea.
Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792): A war between the Russian and Ottoman empires that ended with Russian gains around the Black Sea. Russian expansion along the coast enabled a permanent southern naval presence.
Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855): A prolonged Allied siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War. Russian sailors scuttled ships to obstruct the harbor and fought ashore.
Black Sea grain initiative: A 2022 agreement that enabled Ukrainian grain exports from designated Black Sea ports under international supervision. The fleet’s blockade and the threat of attack formed the security backdrop.
Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits: A 1936 treaty regulating naval and commercial passage through the Turkish Straits. Its wartime provisions restrict passage by belligerent warships.
Grigory Potemkin: A Russian statesman and military leader who oversaw imperial expansion and settlement in the south. He helped organize the fleet and develop Sevastopol as its base.
Russian Revolution: The upheavals of 1917 that ended imperial rule and brought the Bolsheviks to power. Revolution and civil war fractured command and drove evacuations of the fleet.
NATO: A political and military alliance founded in 1949 by North American and European states. NATO’s Black Sea members and partners shape the fleet’s strategic environment.
Novorossiysk: A Russian port on the northeastern Black Sea coast and a major naval base. It has served as an alternative base as Sevastopol became vulnerable.
Sevastopol: A port city on the Crimean Peninsula and the Black Sea Fleet’s historic main base. Its founding as a naval port followed Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

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