The Chongar Strait (russian: Чонгарский пролив; uk, Чонгарська протока) is a short, shallow, narrow strait separating the eastern and western portions of the

Syvash The Syvash or Sivash (Russian and Ukrainian: ; , Cyrillic: Сываш, "dirt"), also known as the or (, ''Gniloye More''; , ''Hnyle More''; , Cyrillic: Чюрюк Денъиз), is a large area of shallow lagoons on the west coast of the Sea ...

, the shallow lagoon system separating the

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

from the mainland east of the

Isthmus of Perekop The Isthmus of Perekop, literally Isthmus of the Trench ( uk, Перекопський перешийок; transliteration: ''Perekops'kyy pereshyyok''; russian: Перекопский перешеек; transliteration: ''Perekopskiy peresheek ...

Overview

The Chongar Strait is about long, varying in width from and is less than deep. The strait separates Chongar Peninsula in the north (on the mainland of Ukraine, and containing the village of

Chongar ''The article's name is transliterated in accordance to the official and academical romanization of Ukrainian.'' Chonhar ( uk, Чонгар), transliterated sometimes as Chongar, is a village in Henichesk Raion, Kherson Oblast, which is located ...

) from the Tup-Dzhankoi Peninsula in the south (in the Crimea). Two bridges cross the strait. One carries (in peacetime) the Ukrainian M18 highway (not to be confused with the Russian M18 highway), which is part of

European route E105 E105 is part of the International E-road network, which is a series of main roads in Europe. It is a north–south reference road, meaning it crosses Europe from north to south and other E-road numbers have been calculated based on these referenc ...

running from northern Norway to

Yalta Yalta (: Я́лта) is a resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Crimea ...

. The other bridge is abandoned. Чонгарский пролив

During the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

, the Chongar Strait was one avenue of attack during the

Perekop-Chongar Operation The siege of Perekop, also known as the Perekop-Çonğar Operation, was the final battle of the Southern Front in the Russian Civil War from 7 to 17 November 1920. The White movement's stronghold on the Crimean Peninsula was protected by the � ...

in November 1920 and was crossed by the Soviet 30th Rifle Division. The operation resulted in the Soviet capture of the Crimea and forced the final evacuation of Wrangel's White Army and the end of the Civil War in the south. Since the 2014

Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. This event took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and is part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War. The events in Kyiv th ...

, the Chongar Strait forms part of the

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

border between

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and the

Republic of Crimea The Republic of Crimea, translit. ''Respublika Krym'' ; uk, Республіка Крим, translit. ''Respublika Krym'' ; crh, , is an unrecognized federal subject (republic) of Russia, located in the Crimean Peninsula. Its territory cor ...

, and has been militarized.

References

{{reflist Straits of Crimea Straits of Ukraine Russia–Ukraine border Geography of Kherson Oblast Sea of Azov