Kerch Strait:
A Russian oil tanker carrying thousands of tonnes of oil products split apart during a heavy storm recently, spilling oil into the Kerch Strait.
- The Kerch Strait is in Eastern Europe and is the only water body that connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov.
- The Romans called it the Strait of Cimmerian Bosphorus. In Greek, it was known as the Cimmerian strait.
- It separates the Kerch Peninsula (part of the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula) towards the west from the Taman Peninsula (Russia), lying in the east.
- It is about 3 km long, 15 km broad, and 18 metres deep.
- At its narrowest point, which lies at the northern end of the Chushka Land spit, it is only three to five kilometres wide.
- The city of Kerchlies near the middle of the strait, on the Crimean side.
- It is an important global shipping route, providing passage from the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea.
- It has also been a key point of conflict between Russia and Ukraine after Moscow annexed the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.
