Remove ads
Bay in Crimea From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lake Donuzlav (Russian and Ukrainian: Донузлав, Crimean Tatar: Doñuzlav), also referred to as Donuzlav Bay, is the deepest lake[1] of Crimea (27 m, 89 ft) and biggest in Chornomorske Raion (47 km2, 18 sq mi). It is a protected landscape and recreational park of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
Donuzlav | |
---|---|
Донузлав, Doñuzlav | |
Location | Crimea |
Coordinates | 45°20′24″N 33°00′36″E |
The lake is as salty as the sea near its mouth but bottom springs make the water much less saline near the head.
Technically it is no longer a lake but rather a bay since 1961, when a 200-metre width canal was washed through the sandy peresyp separating it from the Black Sea, when the construction of a Soviet naval base started.[2] The peresyp length is about 12 km (7.5 mi) with widths varying between 0.3 km (980 ft) to 1 km (3,300 ft).[3][1]
Donuzlav is located in Chornomorske and Saky raions (districts) at the Tarkhankut Peninsula[1] as well as Yevpatoria Municipality. Donuzlav is one of several lakes located around the peninsula.[1]
The length of Donuzlav is 30 km (19 mi), a width is up to 8.5 km (5.3 mi), an area of 42 km2 (16 sq mi) and a depth is up to 27 m (89 ft).[1] It has several small bays.[1] Banks are high, steep, and winding.[1] At separate parts of the lake, a wetland vegetation is common (i.e. common reed, cattail, others).[1]
In the upper portion of the lakes are located two dams for fish farming, in the mid portion is a naval base.[1] On the banks there is a wind-powered energy station (Sakska Wind Farm ) with 53 wind turbines.[1]
To the lake are headed several gulches (semi-dried streams) among which are Staryi Donuzlav, Donuzlav, Chernushka, and Burnuk.
In the northern part there is a Donuzlav recreational park of area 2,335 hectares.
Donuzlav was the location of the Crimean Naval Base of the Soviet Union. The base was particularly notable for housing air-cushioned landing craft (Zubr class). After the dissolution of the Soviet Union it was converted into the Southern Naval Base of Armed Forces of Ukraine.
On 5 March 2014, during the annexation of Crimea, Russian sailors scuttled two Russian Black Sea Fleet vessels, the anti-submarine ship Ochakov and the rescue tugboat Shakhter, at the entrance to Donuzlav Bay to prevent Ukrainian Navy ships from accessing the Black Sea[4][5][6][7] and established the Russian naval base there, reinstating its previous name.
Early on 1 February 2024, Ivanovets, a Russian Tarantul-class corvette, was sunk in Lake Donuzlav after an attack by surface drones.[8][9]
The Soviets also established the Donguzlav air base near the lake. It was decommissioned in 1995, but has been reused by the Russian military since the Russo-Ukrainian war.[10][11][12]
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.