Tuzla Island conflict
Tuzla Island conflict [Конфлікт щодо острова Тузла]. A dispute in 2003 between Ukraine and the Russian Federation over ownership and control of Tuzla Island, located at the mouth of the Sea of Azov. This was Russia’s first violation of the Budapest Memorandum, challenging Ukraine’s sovereignty. Unopposed by the international community it signalled the document’s fundamental weakness as an assurance of security for Ukraine. While the conflict resulted in a temporary preservation of Ukrainian sovereignty, it was on terms favorable to the Russian Federation which then persisted in aggression against its neighbor.
Tuzla Island, minimally inhabited, lies in the Kerch Strait between the Crimean Peninsula and the Taman Peninsula. Although this was disputed by the Russian Federation, the island belonged administratively to the Crimea, and was part of Ukraine until 2014. In September 2003, without authorization or notification, the Russian authorities began to construct a causeway from the Taman Peninsula side towards Tuzla Island. The project would have resulted in the island’s incorporation into the Russian Federation. The Ukrainian government dispatched border guards to the area as a show of force. After a conversation between presidents Leonid Kuchma and Vladimir Putin, construction was halted in October 2003 about 100 meters short of the island. In December, a treaty was concluded between the two states making the Sea of Azov an internal body of water common to them both, not under the rule of international law and restricting passage of foreign naval vessels (e.g., NATO) thereto. This gave Moscow control over shipping in the Sea of Azov, to the detriment of Ukrainian port facilities located there while Ukraine retained control of the island.
In 2018, having annexed the Crimea, the Russian Federation completed a bridge across the Kerch Strait using Tuzla Island as an intermediary point. This so-called Kerch Bridge became a critical supply route for the Russian army’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and for the ensuing full-scale Russo-Ukrainian war.
Bohdan Harasymiw
[This article was written in 2024.]