Hi!
It is so good to write to you when it is not hot. It seems that I will remember that heat for a while. It is late morning here. I usually start writing to you in the mornings. The windows are wide open, and they welcome generous fresh air. Okay, it is hard to call it fresh in the big city. Sometimes, I miss my hometown, its forest and green views - sometimes, but not very often 🙈.
The week began with enormous heat. See? I am talking about it again. Heat is worse when there is no power. We had such limited power (sometimes only 2-3 hours per day) that I didn't know what to do with such an abundance when the situation slightly improved, and we got 6 hours of it.
Phew. We need a picture. Yesterday, I visited an exhibition, "Treasures of Crimea. Return", and took photos. If you missed my tweet yesterday, here are a few words about the exhibition. Are you still on Twitter/X, by the way?
The exhibition features 565 exhibits known as "Scythian gold." In 2014, when russia occupied Crimea, the collection was on display at the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam. This was followed by almost ten years of litigation over ownership between Ukraine and museums in russian-controlled territory. In November 2023, the "Scythian gold" finally returned to Ukraine. The exhibition will be brought to Crimea after the peninsula's de-occupation.
I started talking about the power situation here so that I will update you more. Power engineers completed scheduled repairs of a nuclear power reactor ahead of schedule (for this reason, plus cooler temperatures, the power situation improved). Before the full-scale invasion, there were 15 nuclear power reactors in Ukraine, of which nine are currently operating in the territory controlled by Ukraine (6 are located in the russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant).
The Cabinet of Ministers approved the Strategy for the Development of Distributed Generation until 2035. The European Union allocated €100 million in grants to Ukrenergo. This funding will support the "Reconstruction and Restoration of Ukraine's Electricity Transmission Infrastructure II" project.
Some not-good news from here. According to an Interior Ministry official, Ukraine lists 42,000 citizens in its unified register of persons missing under special circumstances.
Of course, there was an attack this week that showed the exceptional cruelty of russians. On July 19 (it was Friday), they attacked the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv with a missile, targeting the residential area. The blast damaged 19 residential buildings, a kindergarten, and numerous cars. Four people were killed, among them a child.
It is worth mentioning our attacks. Overnight on July 16, a fire broke out at a low-voltage equipment factory in russia's Kursk Oblast after a drone attack. On July 20, the Millerovo airbase in russia became the target of a large-scale drone attack by Ukrainian Defense Forces.
Also, Ukrainian aerial and maritime drones attacked the russian base in Crimea. This attack reminded me of the Crimean War in the 19th century. I will tell you about it today in our history/cultural part.
Balaklava, photo James Robertson (1813-1888). Crimea, 1855. Photo credit: Victoria and Albert Museum
The Crimean War of 1853-1856
It is also called the Eastern War. It was a war between the russian Empire and the allied forces of the Ottoman Empire, Great Britain, France, and the Kingdom of the Sardinia (modern Italy).
The reason for the war?
A dispute between Catholic and Orthodox clergy over the control of holy sites in Jerusalem, then part of the Ottoman Empire. The russian Empire demanded that the Ottoman government reject France's claims and transfer the Orthodox believers of the sultan to the russian Empire. The ultimatum was backed up by the fact that the russian army entered the territory of present-day Romania, which then had autonomy within the Ottoman Empire.
In September 1853, Sultan Abdulmejid I declared war on russia.
Jean-Charles Langlois, Gervais Battery, 1855. Photo credit: Luminous-Lint
How was the war going?
Turkish forces managed to defeat the russians several times, but the russians were stronger at sea. In November 1853, the russian fleet almost destroyed the Turkish one in the Battle of Sinop.
russia's victory meant that its ships could soon be in the Mediterranean, radically changing the balance of power in Europe. So, on December 23, 1853, the British-French force entered the Black Sea. The Allies issued an ultimatum to the russians to immediately return its troops home. Within two weeks, France and Britain signed an agreement in Constantinople, guaranteeing the territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire.
Eventually, under pressure, Nicholas I (russia's tsar) was forced to withdraw, but France and Britain decided to continue the war to weaken russia and prevent new aggression. At that time, the target of the Allied attack was the base of the russian Black Sea Fleet, Sevastopol (Crimea).
General view of Sevastopol from the rear of the Redan, photo James Robertson (1833-88). Photo credit: Victoria and Albert Museum
The Battle for Sevastopol
On September 1, 1854, a huge armada approached the coast of Crimea. 30,000 French, 21,000 British, and 7,000 Turks began marching toward Sevastopol.
On the way, they were met by a 36,000-strong russian army. The Allies won the battle on September 8 and approached Sevastopol. An 11-month siege began. Actually, it was not really a siege because Sevastopol was never cut off from the russian army and supplies.
The last attack on Sevastopol by 60,000 Allied soldiers began on August 27, 1855. To avoid further losses, the defenders retreated to the northern shore of Sevastopol Bay. Thus, after 349 days of siege, the Allies occupied the ruined city.
What happened next?
A peace agreement was signed in Paris on March 18, 1855. According to its terms, Sevastopol was returned to the russian Empire in exchange for the Turkish fortress of Kars in the Transcaucasus, which the russians had captured. The russian and Ottoman Empires had no right to maintain their fleets in the Black Sea. Both countries were allowed only a light patrol force.
After France was defeated in the war with Prussia in 1871, russia denounced the agreement clauses that limited its rights in the Black Sea. Six years later, russia was again at war with the Ottoman Empire.
What else?
British photographers James Robertson and Roger Fenton and French photographer Jean-Charles Langlois became famous for their Crimean photographs. Click on the links to see their photos.
The Irishman William Howard Russell of The Times in London was among the most famous journalists who wrote about the Crimean War.
And this is my photo taken yesterday. I need a good cup of warcoffee now. I hope you find something new in this Crimean letter. Also, I am always happy to read your recommendations on what is interesting to read, watch or listen to. On any topics and countries, of course. A small recommendation from me is a russian media monitoring report for July 8-14. They do such reports weekly.
I will take a sip of coffee and come back to say bye.
Here. But let me update you on the EcoFlow portable power station I ordered with your support. It hasn't arrived yet. On their website, the company informed that the delivery terms could be longer because of high demand. So, I am waiting. The good thing is that the power situation is a little better.
Sincere greetings from Kyiv,
Yaroslava