It was 2003, the \u00a0“Year of Russia in Ukraine,” and Ukrainian newspapers were reporting that “less than a hundred meters remain to war with Russia.” On September 29, without warning or approval, Russia began constructing a dam toward the Ukrainian island of Tuzla in the Kerch Strait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The small island, covering only 3.5 km\u00b2, was formed in 1925 when a powerful storm washed away part of the spit extending from the Taman Peninsula. Since 1954, like the rest of Crimea, Tuzla has been part of Ukraine. After the collapse of the USSR, some voices in Russia began calling for the return of the Tuzla Spit to Russian jurisdiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On September 18, 2003, the authorities of Russia’s Krasnodar region decided to build a dam to the Ukrainian island of Tuzla, just two days after President Putin\u2019s visit to the area. According to the Russian press, the construction was needed to prevent coastline erosion and preserve the soil. However, this move blatantly violated both international law and Ukrainian-Russian bilateral agreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Ukrainian diplomats prepared a note of protest, demanding an immediate halt to the illegal construction and an explanation from the Russian side, Ukrainian border guards, led by Mykola Koval, took decisive action to strengthen the state border. Special forces units from the State Border Guard Service were redeployed to the potential conflict zone, along with ships and helicopters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, construction continued at an accelerated pace, with the Russians advancing toward the Ukrainian island by 150 meters each day. The dam-building efforts intensified on October 20, the day President Leonid Kuchma left for a visit to Latin America, forcing him to interrupt the trip. On October 23, Kuchma arrived on Tuzla. After inspecting the island’s fortifications and speaking with border guards\u2014one of whom assured him he was ready to fire at border violators if necessary\u2014Kuchma called his Russian counterpart. Shortly after, he announced that the Russians would halt construction and negotiations would take place. On December 2, in Kerch, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an agreement on the joint use of the Azov Sea and the Kerch Strait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The determination of the Ukrainian authorities to defend their territorial integrity successfully stopped the dam construction just 102 meters from Ukrainian territory. Although the conflict did not escalate into a “hot phase,” it served as a rehearsal for the eventual seizure of Crimea in 2014, a testing ground for hybrid warfare methods.
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