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98-653: 45°15′18″N 30°12′15″E  /  45.25500°N 30.20417°E  / 45.25500; 30.20417 Snake Island , also known as Serpent Island , White Island , Island of Achilles or Zmiinyi Island ( Ukrainian : острів Змії́ний , romanized :  ostriv Zmiinyi ; Romanian : Insula Șerpilor ), is a Ukrainian island located in the Black Sea , near the Danube Delta , with an important role in delimiting Ukrainian territorial waters. The island has been known since classical antiquity , and during that era hosted

196-521: A Greek temple to Achilles . Today, it is administered as part of Izmail Raion of Ukraine's Odesa Oblast . The island is populated, reported to have under 30 people in 2012. A village, Bile , was founded in February 2007 with the purpose of consolidating the status of the island as an inhabited place. This happened during the period in which the island was part of a border dispute between Romania and Ukraine from 2004 to 2009, during which Romania contested

294-528: A Soviet submarine near the island and attacked her with depth charges, but it managed to escape. The Romanian marines were evacuated from the island and Soviet troops occupied it on 29–30 August 1944. The Paris Peace Treaties of 1947 between the protagonists of World War II stipulated that Romania cede Northern Bukovina , the Hertsa region , Budjak , and Bessarabia to the Soviet Union, but made no mention of

392-610: A body of national literature, institute a Ukrainian-language educational system, and form an independent state (the Ukrainian People's Republic , shortly joined by the West Ukrainian People's Republic ). During this brief independent statehood the stature and use of Ukrainian greatly improved. In the Russian Empire Census of 1897 the following picture emerged, with Ukrainian being the second most spoken language of

490-586: A closer lexical distance to West Slavic Polish and South Slavic Bulgarian . Ukrainian is a descendant of Old East Slavic , a language spoken in the medieval state of Kievan Rus' . In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , the language developed into Ruthenian , where it became an official language, before a process of Polonization began in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . By the 18th century, Ruthenian diverged into regional variants, and

588-668: A few months, following a Russian withdrawal. Snake Island is located 35 km from the coast, east of the mouth of the Danube River . The island is irregularly shaped, with an area of 0.205 km (0.079 sq mi) and a maximum diameter of about 700m. The gently sloping terrain reaches its highest point 41 metres (135 ft) above sea level. The bedrock of the island consists of Silurian and Devonian sedimentary rocks, primarily metamorphosed , highly cemented quartzite conglomerate - breccias , with subordinate conglomerate, sandstone and clay , which form cliffs surrounding

686-805: A gradual change of the Old East Slavic vowel system into the system found in modern Ukrainian began approximately in the 12th/13th century (that is, still at the time of the Kievan Rus') with a lengthening and raising of the Old East Slavic mid vowels e and o when followed by a consonant and a weak yer vowel that would eventually disappear completely, for example Old East Slavic котъ /kɔtə/ > Ukrainian кіт /kit/ 'cat' (via transitional stages such as /koˑtə̆/, /kuˑt(ə̆)/, /kyˑt/ or similar) or Old East Slavic печь /pʲɛtʃʲə/ > Ukrainian піч /pitʃ/ 'oven' (via transitional stages such as /pʲeˑtʃʲə̆/, /pʲiˑtʃʲ/ or similar). This raising and other phonological developments of

784-561: A large majority of Ukrainians . Written Ukrainian uses the Ukrainian alphabet , a variant of the Cyrillic script . The standard language is studied by the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and Potebnia Institute of Linguistics . Comparisons are often made between Ukrainian and Russian , another East Slavic language, yet there is more mutual intelligibility with Belarusian , and

882-574: A lighthouse on the very site obliterated all trace of it. Ovid , who was banished to Tomis , mentions the island, so do Ptolemy and Strabo . The island is described in Pliny the Elder 's Natural History , IV.27.1. It is also described in Arrian 's Letter to Emperor Hadrian , a historical document movingly drawn upon by Marguerite Yourcenar in her Memoirs of Hadrian . Several ancient inscriptions were found on

980-516: A military radar , and transferred all other infrastructure to civilians. Eventually, the Romania-Ukraine international relationships soured (see "Maritime delimitation" section) when Romania tried to assert that the island is no more than a rock in the sea. In February 2007, the Verkhovna Rada approved establishing a rural settlement as part of Vylkove city which is located some distance away at

1078-582: A policy of defending Ukraine's interests within the Soviet Union. He proudly promoted the beauty of the Ukrainian language and developed plans to expand the role of Ukrainian in higher education. He was removed, however, after only a brief tenure, for being too lenient on Ukrainian nationalism. The new party boss from 1972 to 1989, Volodymyr Shcherbytsky , purged the local party, was fierce in suppressing dissent, and insisted Russian be spoken at all official functions, even at local levels. His policy of Russification

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1176-437: A post office, a bank (branch of the Ukrainian bank "Aval"), the first-aid station, a satellite television provider, a phone network, a cell phone tower, and an Internet link. Most of building structures are located either in the middle of the island by a lighthouse or the northeastern peninsula of the island by its pier. The island lacks a fresh water source. Its border guard contingent is regularly resupplied by air. Since 2009

1274-504: A result of close Slavic contacts with the remnants of the Scythian and Sarmatian population north of the Black Sea , lasting into the early Middle Ages , the appearance of the voiced fricative γ/г (romanized "h"), in modern Ukrainian and some southern Russian dialects is explained by the assumption that it initially emerged in Scythian and related eastern Iranian dialects, from earlier common Proto-Indo-European *g and *gʰ . During

1372-624: A self-aware Ukrainian nation would threaten the unity of the empire. In 1804 Ukrainian as a subject and language of instruction was banned from schools. In 1811, by order of the Russian government, the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy was closed. In 1847 the Brotherhood of St Cyril and Methodius was terminated. The same year Taras Shevchenko was arrested, exiled for ten years, and banned for political reasons from writing and painting. In 1862 Pavlo Chubynsky

1470-403: A sports and health rehabilitation complex with its own stadium and rest-base for the students, personnel, and university guests in the village of Chernomorka. In all university locations there are cafeterias, cafes, bars, and medical sections. Odesa University has engaged in international cooperation at the regional and global levels for the past 150 years. The university is currently a member of

1568-883: A variant name of the Little Russian language . In a private letter from 1854, Taras Shevchenko lauds "our splendid Ukrainian language". Valuyev's decree from 1863 derides the "Little Russian" language throughout, but also mentions "the so-called Ukrainian language" once. In Galicia, the earliest applications of the term Ukrainian to the language were in the hyphenated names Ukrainian-Ruthenian (1866, by Paulin Święcicki ) or Ruthenian-Ukrainian (1871, by Panteleimon Kulish and Ivan Puluj ), with non-hyphenated Ukrainian language appearing shortly thereafter (in 1878, by Mykhailo Drahomanov ). A following ban on Ukrainian books led to Alexander II 's secret Ems Ukaz , which prohibited publication and importation of most Ukrainian-language books, public performances and lectures, and even banned

1666-625: Is based on the character of contemporary written sources, ultimately reflecting socio-historical developments, and he further subdivides the Middle period into three phases: Ukraine annually marks the Day of Ukrainian Writing and Language on 9 November, the Eastern Orthodox feast day of Nestor the Chronicler . The era of Kievan Rus' ( c. 880–1240) is the subject of some linguistic controversy, as

1764-635: Is famous for its scientific library , the largest and oldest of any university in Ukraine (3,600,000 volumes, ranging from the 15th century to the present days). Odesa I. I. Mechnykov National University is one of the oldest in Ukraine. It was founded in 1865, when by edict of the Russian Tsar Alexander II the Richelieu Lyceum ( Ukrainian : Рішельєвський ліцей , which had existed in Odesa since 1817)

1862-464: Is listed as UKR 050 by ARLHS, EU-182 by IOTA, and BS-07 by UIA. The island was named by the Greeks Leuke ( Ancient Greek : Λευκή , 'White Island') and was similarly known by Romans as Alba , probably because of the white marble formations that can be found on the isle. According to Dionysius Periegetes , it was called Leuke, because the serpents there were white. According to Arrian , it

1960-468: Is referred to as "Old Ukrainian", but elsewhere, and in contemporary sources, is known as the Ruthenian language, and from the end of the 18th century to the present what in Ukraine is known as "Modern Ukrainian", but elsewhere is known as just Ukrainian. Odesa University Odesa I. I. Mechnykov National University comprises four institutes, ten faculties, and seven specialized councils. The university

2058-544: The Shchuka class ( Shch-208 and Shch-213 ) and three of the M class ( M-35 , M-56 , and M-62 ) conducted a patrol near the island. On 29–30 October and 5 November 1942, the Romanian minelayers Amiral Murgescu and Dacia , together with the Romanian destroyers Regina Maria , Regele Ferdinand , the Romanian flotilla leader Mărăști , the Romanian gunboat Stihi and four German R boats laid two mine barrages around

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2156-668: The Bystroe Canal and Skhidnyi Channel. The closest Romanian coastal city, Sulina , is 45 km (28 mi) away. The closest Ukrainian city is Vylkove , 50 km (31 mi); however, there also is a port Ust-Dunaisk, 44 km (27 mi) away from the island. For the end of 2011 in Zmiinyi Island coastal waters, 58 fish species (12 of which are included into the Red Book of Ukraine) and six crab species were recorded. A presidential decree of 9 December 1998, Number 1341/98, declared

2254-623: The International Court of Justice to seek a final ruling. In 2007, the island's only settlement Bile was founded. Ukrainian language Ukrainian ( українська мова , ukrainska mova , IPA: [ʊkrɐˈjinʲsʲkɐ ˈmɔʋɐ] ) is one of the East Slavic languages in the Indo-European languages family, and it is spoken primarily in Ukraine . It is the first (native) language of

2352-719: The Latin language. Much of the influence of Poland on the development of the Ukrainian language has been attributed to this period and is reflected in multiple words and constructions used in everyday Ukrainian speech that were taken from Polish or Latin. Examples of Polish words adopted from this period include zavzhdy (always; taken from old Polish word zawżdy ) and obitsiaty (to promise; taken from Polish obiecać ) and from Latin (via Polish) raptom (suddenly) and meta (aim or goal). Significant contact with Tatars and Turks resulted in many Turkic words, particularly those involving military matters and steppe industry, being adopted into

2450-557: The Novgorod Republic did not call themselves Rus ' until the 14th century; earlier Novgorodians reserved the term Rus ' for the Kiev , Pereyaslavl and Chernigov principalities. At the same time as evidenced by contemporary chronicles, the ruling princes and kings of Galicia–Volhynia and Kiev called themselves "people of Rus ' " (in foreign sources called " Ruthenians "), and Galicia–Volhynia has alternately been called

2548-508: The Odesa I. I. Mechnikov National University established the Ostriv Zmiinyi marine research station every year, at which scientists and students from the university conduct research on local fauna, flora, geology, meteorology, atmospheric chemistry, and hydrobiology. In accordance with a 1997 Treaty between Romania and Ukraine, the Ukrainian authorities withdrew an army radio division, demolished

2646-629: The Romanian alliance with Russia , the Russians operated a wireless station on the island, which was destroyed on 25 June 1917 when it was bombarded by the Ottoman cruiser Midilli (built as SMS Breslau of the German Navy). The lighthouse (built by Marius Michel Pasha in 1860) was also damaged and possibly destroyed. The 1920 Treaty of Versailles reconfirmed the island as part of Romania. The lighthouse

2744-606: The Soviet Union . In 1997, Romania and Ukraine signed a treaty in which both states "reaffirm that the existing border between them is inviolable and therefore, they shall refrain, now and in future, from any attempt against the border, as well as from any demand, or act of, seizure and usurpation of part or all the territory of the Contracting Party". However, both sides have agreed that if no resolution on maritime borders can be reached within two years, then either side can go to

2842-399: The law of Ukraine "On protecting the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language" was approved by the parliament, formalizing rules governing the usage of the language and introducing penalties for violations. The literary Ukrainian language, which was preceded by Old East Slavic literature, may be subdivided into two stages: during the 12th to 18th centuries what in Ukraine

2940-425: The 11th–12th century, but started becoming more similar to them around the 13th–15th centuries. The modern Russian language hence developed from the fusion of this Novgorod dialect and the common dialect spoken by the other Kievan Rus', whereas the modern Ukrainian and Belarusian languages developed from dialects which did not differ from each other in a significant way. Ukrainian linguist Stepan Smal-Stotsky denies

3038-451: The 13th century, eastern parts of Rus (including Moscow) came under Tatar rule until their unification under the Tsardom of Muscovy , whereas the south-western areas (including Kyiv ) were incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . For the following four centuries, the languages of the two regions evolved in relative isolation from each other. Direct written evidence of the existence of

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3136-666: The 13th century, when German settlers were invited to Ukraine by the princes of the Kingdom of Ruthenia, German words began to appear in the language spoken in Ukraine. Their influence would continue under Poland not only through German colonists but also through the Yiddish-speaking Jews. Often such words involve trade or handicrafts. Examples of words of German or Yiddish origin spoken in Ukraine include dakh ("roof"), rura ("pipe"), rynok ("market"), kushnir ("furrier"), and majster ("master" or "craftsman"). In

3234-589: The Cossack motherland, Ukrajina , as a self-appellation for the nation of Ukrainians, and Ukrajins'ka mova for the language. Many writers published works in the Romantic tradition of Europe demonstrating that Ukrainian was not merely a language of the village but suitable for literary pursuits. However, in the Russian Empire expressions of Ukrainian culture and especially language were repeatedly persecuted for fear that

3332-708: The Hellenic cult of Achilles centred here. According to another myth Thetis gave the island to Achilles and let him live there. The oracle of Delphi sent Leonymus (other writers called him Autoleon) to the Island, telling him that there Ajax the Great would appear to him and cure his wound. Leonymus said that on the island he saw Achilles, Ajax the Great, Ajax the Lesser , Patroclus , Antilochus and Helen of Troy . In addition, Helen told him to go to Stesichorus at Himera and tell him that

3430-724: The Imperial Novorossiya University became an important center of science and for training the scientific and educational cadres of the northern Black Sea coastal region. World-famous teachers and scientists have worked at Imperial Novorossiya University during different times of its existence, including the Nobel Prize winner I. I. Mechnykov (after whom the university was later renamed), Professors Ivan Sechenov , A. A. Kovalevskiy , Mykola Hamaliya , N. D. Zelinskiy, Dmitri Mendeleev , physicist G. A. Gamov, mathematician Aleksandr Lyapunov , and others. Through their activities,

3528-653: The Imperial Novorossiya University quickly became one of the centers of the culture of the Ukrainian, Russian, and other peoples dwelling along the northern coast of the Black Sea, and the university began to play an important role in the development of science. The first Rector of the university was Professor I. Y. Sokolov. At different periods of time, the university was headed by Professors P. N. Lebedyev, A. I. Yurzhenko, A. V. Bogatskiy, V. V. Serdyuk, and I. P. Zelinskiy—all prominent specialists in different branches of knowledge. In 2013, The Ukrainian Week stated that members of

3626-544: The Orthodox church spoke Ruthenian. The 1654 Pereiaslav Agreement between Cossack Hetmanate and Alexis of Russia divided Ukraine between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Tsardom of Russia. During the following century, both monarchies became increasingly intolerant of Ukrainian own cultural and political aspirations. Ukrainians found themselves in a colonial situation. The Russian centre adopted

3724-559: The Polish nobility. Many Ukrainian nobles learned the Polish language and converted to Catholicism during that period in order to maintain their lofty aristocratic position. Lower classes were less affected because literacy was common only in the upper class and clergy. The latter were also under significant Polish pressure after the Union with the Catholic Church . Most of the educational system

3822-530: The Principality or Kingdom of Ruthenia. Also according to Andrey Zaliznyak, the Novgorodian dialect differed significantly from that of other dialects of Kievan Rus during the 11th–12th century, but started becoming more similar to them around 13th–15th centuries. The modern Russian language hence developed from the fusion of this Novgorodian dialect and the common dialect spoken by the other Kievan Rus, whereas

3920-597: The Romanian-Soviet State Border Regime, Collaboration and Mutual Assistance on Border Matters, signed in Bucharest on 27 February 1961. Between 1967 and 1987, the USSR and Romanian side negotiated the delimitation of the continental shelf. The Romanian side refused to accept a Russian offer of 4,000 km (1,500 sq mi) out of 6,000 km (2,300 sq mi) around the island in 1987. Following

4018-608: The Russian Empire. According to the Imperial census's terminology, the Russian language ( Русскій ) was subdivided into Ukrainian (Малорусскій, ' Little Russian '), what is known as Russian today (Великорусскій, ' Great Russian '), and Belarusian (Бѣлорусскій, 'White Russian'). The following table shows the distribution of settlement by native language ( "по родному языку" ) in 1897 in Russian Empire governorates ( guberniyas ) that had more than 100,000 Ukrainian speakers. Although in

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4116-460: The Soviet Union and a special term, "a language of inter-ethnic communication", was coined to denote its status. After the death of Stalin (1953), a general policy of relaxing the language policies of the past was implemented (1958 to 1963). The Khrushchev era which followed saw a policy of relatively lenient concessions to development of the languages at the local and republic level, though its results in Ukraine did not go nearly as far as those of

4214-513: The Soviet destroyer leader Kharkov together with the destroyers Bezposhchadny and Smyshlyonyi and several torpedo boats ran a patrol near the island, but found no Axis ships. On 9 July 1941, the Soviet destroyer leader Tashkent together with four other destroyers ( Bodry , Boiky , Bezuprechny , and Bezposhchadny ) conducted a shipping sweep operation near the island, but did not make any contacts. On 7 September 1941, two Soviet submarines of

4312-460: The Soviet policy of Ukrainianization in the 1920s. Journals and encyclopedic publications advanced in the Ukrainian language during the Khrushchev era, as well as transfer of Crimea under Ukrainian SSR jurisdiction. Yet, the 1958 school reform that allowed parents to choose the language of primary instruction for their children, unpopular among the circles of the national intelligentsia in parts of

4410-496: The USSR, meant that non-Russian languages would slowly give way to Russian in light of the pressures of survival and advancement. The gains of the past, already largely reversed by the Stalin era, were offset by the liberal attitude towards the requirement to study the local languages (the requirement to study Russian remained). Parents were usually free to choose the language of study of their children (except in few areas where attending

4508-564: The Ukrainian language dates to the late 16th century. By the 16th century, a peculiar official language formed: a mixture of the liturgical standardised language of Old Church Slavonic , Ruthenian and Polish . The influence of the latter gradually increased relative to the former two, as the nobility and rural large-landowning class, known as the szlachta , was largely Polish-speaking. Documents soon took on many Polish characteristics superimposed on Ruthenian phonetics. Polish–Lithuanian rule and education also involved significant exposure to

4606-470: The Ukrainian language held the formal position of the principal local language in the Ukrainian SSR . However, practice was often a different story: Ukrainian always had to compete with Russian, and the attitudes of the Soviet leadership towards Ukrainian varied from encouragement and tolerance to de facto banishment. Officially, there was no state language in the Soviet Union until the very end when it

4704-465: The Ukrainian language. Examples include torba (bag) and tyutyun (tobacco). Because of the substantial number of loanwords from Polish, German, Czech and Latin, early modern vernacular Ukrainian ( prosta mova , " simple speech ") had more lexical similarity with West Slavic languages than with Russian or Church Slavonic. By the mid-17th century, the linguistic divergence between the Ukrainian and Russian languages had become so significant that there

4802-409: The Ukrainian school might have required a long daily commute) and they often chose Russian, which reinforced the resulting Russification. In this sense, some analysts argue that it was not the "oppression" or "persecution", but rather the lack of protection against the expansion of Russian language that contributed to the relative decline of Ukrainian in the 1970s and 1980s. According to this view, it

4900-407: The chancellery and gradually evolved into the Ruthenian language. Polish rule, which came later, was accompanied by a more assimilationist policy. By the 1569 Union of Lublin that formed the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a significant part of Ukrainian territory was moved from Lithuanian rule to Polish administration, resulting in cultural Polonization and visible attempts to colonize Ukraine by

4998-535: The coast of the island or sailing a short distance from it. Pliny the Elder wrote that the tomb of the hero was on the island. According to the legend, on the island no bird flew higher than the temple of Achilles. The uninhabited isle Achilleis ("of Achilles ") was the major sanctuary of the hero, where "seabirds dipped their wings in water to sweep the temples clean", according to Constantine D. Kyriazis. Several temples of Thracian Apollo can be found here, and there are submerged ruins. According to Greek myths

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5096-407: The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine inherited control over the island. A number of Romanian parties and organizations consistently claimed it should be included in its territory. According to the Romanian side, in the peace treaties of 1918 and 1920 (after World War I ), the isle was considered part of Romania, and it was not mentioned in the 1947 border-changing treaty between Romania and

5194-525: The course of the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792 . In 1829, following the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829 , the island became part of the Russian Empire until 1856. In 1877, following the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 , the Ottoman Empire gave the island and Northern Dobruja region to Romania , as a reimbursement for the Russian annexation of Romania's Southern Bessarabia region. As part of

5292-465: The development of the island was suspended due to financing which caused a great degree of concern of local authorities asking for more funding from the state. The Snake Island Lighthouse was built in the autumn of 1842 by the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Empire . The lighthouse is an octagonal -shaped building, 12 meters tall, located near the highest elevated area of the island, 40 meters above

5390-407: The existence of a common Old East Slavic language at any time in the past. Similar points of view were shared by Yevhen Tymchenko , Vsevolod Hantsov , Olena Kurylo , Ivan Ohienko and others. According to this theory, the dialects of East Slavic tribes evolved gradually from the common Proto-Slavic language without any intermediate stages during the 6th through 9th centuries. The Ukrainian language

5488-428: The hero with a statue inside. Solinus wrote that on the island there was a sacred shrine. According to Arrian in the temple there were many offerings to Achilles and Patroclus . Furthermore, people came to the island and sacrificed or set animals free in honour of Achilles. He also added that people said that Achilles and Patroclus appeared in front of them as hallucinations or in their dreams while they were approaching

5586-424: The island and coastal waters as a state-protected area. The total protected area covers 232 hectares (570 acres). The island was one of the last hauling-out sites in the basin for critically endangered Mediterranean monk seals until the 1950s. About 100 inhabitants live on the island's only settlement, Bile , mostly frontier guard servicemen with their families and technical personnel. In 2003, an initiative of

5684-423: The island up to 25 metres high. The structural geology of the island is defined by a wavy monocline oriented to the northeast, with a small anticline in the eastern part of the island. The island is crisscrossed by faults with both N-S and NE-SW orientations. The nearest coastal location to the island is Kubanskyi Island on the Ukrainian part of the Danube Delta , located 35 km (22 mi) away between

5782-481: The island was created by Poseidon for Achilles to inhabit, but also for sailors to have an island to anchor at the Euxine Sea , but the sailors should never sleep on the island. According to a surviving epitome of the lost Trojan War epic of Arctinus of Miletus , the remains of Achilles and Patroclus were brought to this island by Thetis , to be put in a sanctuary, furnishing the aition , or founding myth of

5880-447: The island, but failed to inflict significant losses. On 11 December 1942, the Soviet submarine Shch-212 was sunk by a Romanian minefield near the island along with all of her crew of 44. The Soviet submarine M-31 was either sunk as well by the Romanian mine barrages near the island on 17 December, or sunk with depth charges by the Romanian flotilla leader Mărășești on 7 July 1943. On 25 August 1943, two Romanian motorboats spotted

5978-419: The island, including a 4th-century BC Olbiopolitan decree which praises someone for defeating and driving out the pirates that lived on the "holy island". Another inscription which found on the island and dates back to the fifth century BC writes: "Glaukos, son of Posideios, dedicated me to Achilles, lord of Leuke" A fragment was found on the island which was signed by the famous ancient painter Epiktetos and

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6076-407: The island. On 1 December 1942, while the Soviet cruiser Voroshilov together with the destroyer Soobrazitelny were bombarding the island with forty-six 180 mm and fifty-seven 100 mm shells, the cruiser was damaged by Romanian mines, but it managed to return to Poti for repairs under her own power. During the brief bombardment, she struck the radio station, barracks and lighthouse on

6174-417: The language of much of the literature was purely or heavily Old Church Slavonic . Some theorists see an early Ukrainian stage in language development here, calling it Old Ruthenian; others term this era Old East Slavic . Russian theorists tend to amalgamate Rus' to the modern nation of Russia, and call this linguistic era Old Russian. However, according to Russian linguist Andrey Zaliznyak (2012), people from

6272-466: The lighthouse visibility to 37 kilometres (20 nmi). The lighthouse was either destroyed or damaged in the First World War (it is not clear which). It was subsequently rebuilt (see #World War I below). The lighthouse was heavily damaged during World War II by Soviet aviation and German retreating forces. It was restored at the end of 1944 by the Odesa military radio detachment. In 1949 it

6370-418: The loss of his sight was caused by her wrath. Pomponius Mela wrote that Achilles was buried there. In Andromache , work of Euripides , Thetis mention the island and said that Achilles was "dwelling on his island home". Ruins believed to be of a square temple dedicated to Achilles, 30 meters to a side, were discovered by the Russian naval Captain N. D. Kritzkii in 1823, but the subsequent construction of

6468-456: The modern Ukrainian and Belarusian languages developed from the dialects which did not differ from each other in a significant way. After the fall of the Kingdom of Ruthenia, Ukrainians mainly fell under the rule of Lithuania and then Poland . Local autonomy of both rule and language was a marked feature of Lithuanian rule. In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Old East Slavic became the language of

6566-488: The modern Ukrainian language developed in the territory of present-day Ukraine. Russification saw the Ukrainian language banned as a subject from schools and as a language of instruction in the Russian Empire , and continued in various ways in the Soviet Union . Even so, the language continued to see use throughout the country, and remained particularly strong in Western Ukraine . Specific developments that led to

6664-458: The mouth of the Danube . In addition to a helicopter platform, in 2002 a pier was built for ships with up to 8 meter draught, and construction of a harbour is underway. The island is supplied with navigation equipment, including a 150-year-old lighthouse . Electric power is provided by a dual solar/diesel power station. The island also has civil infrastructure such as the marine research station,

6762-467: The mouths of the Danube and Snake Island. Until 1948, Snake Island was a part of Romania. On 4 February 1948, during the delimitation of the frontier, Romania and the Soviet Union signed a protocol that left Snake Island and several islets on the Danube south of the 1917 Romanian-Russian border under Soviet administration. Romania disputed the validity of this protocol, since it was never ratified by either of

6860-501: The name Little Russia for Ukraine and Little Russian for the language, an expression that originated in Byzantine Greek and may originally have meant "old, original, fundamental Russia", and had been in use since the 14th century. Ukrainian high culture went into a long period of steady decline. The Kyiv-Mohyla Academy was taken over by the Russian Empire. Most of the remaining Ukrainian schools also switched to Polish or Russian in

6958-459: The native language for the majority in the nation on the eve of Ukrainian independence, a significant share of ethnic Ukrainians were russified. In Donetsk there were no Ukrainian language schools and in Kyiv only a quarter of children went to Ukrainian language schools. The Russian language was the dominant vehicle, not just of government function, but of the media, commerce, and modernity itself. This

7056-425: The population said Ukrainian was their native language. Until the 1920s the urban population in Ukraine grew faster than the number of Ukrainian speakers. This implies that there was a (relative) decline in the use of Ukrainian language. For example, in Kyiv, the number of people stating that Ukrainian was their native language declined from 30.3% in 1874 to 16.6% in 1917. During the seven-decade-long Soviet era ,

7154-526: The potter Nikosthenes . The island was one of the three sites in the Black Sea which stand out in the cult of Achilles, the other two were the Racecourse of Achilles and the Pontic Olbia . The Greeks during the Ottoman Empire renamed it Fidonisi ( Greek : Φιδονήσι , 'Snake Island') and the island gave its name to the naval Battle of Fidonisi , fought between the Ottoman and Russian fleets in 1788, during

7252-510: The present-day reflex is /ɣ/. Ahatanhel Krymsky and Aleksey Shakhmatov assumed the existence of the common spoken language of Eastern Slavs only in prehistoric times. According to their point of view, the diversification of the Old East Slavic language took place in the 8th or early 9th century. Russian linguist Andrey Zaliznyak stated that the Old Novgorod dialect differed significantly from that of other dialects of Kievan Rus' during

7350-573: The printing of Ukrainian texts accompanying musical scores. A period of leniency after 1905 was followed by another strict ban in 1914, which also affected Russian-occupied Galicia. For much of the 19th century the Austrian authorities demonstrated some preference for Polish culture, but the Ukrainians were relatively free to partake in their own cultural pursuits in Halychyna and Bukovina , where Ukrainian

7448-515: The rural regions of the Ukrainian provinces, 80% of the inhabitants said that Ukrainian was their native language in the Census of 1897 (for which the results are given above), in the urban regions only 32.5% of the population claimed Ukrainian as their native language. For example, in Odesa (then part of the Russian Empire), at the time the largest city in the territory of current Ukraine, only 5.6% of

7546-546: The sea level. The lighthouse built on site of the previously destroyed temple of Achilles is adjacent to a housing building. The remnants of the Greek temple were found in 1823. As lighthouse technology progressed, in 1860 new lighthouse lamps were bought from England, and one of them was installed in the Lighthouse in 1862. In the early 1890s a new kerosene lamp was installed, with lamp rotating equipment and flat lenses. It improved

7644-661: The sixteenth and first half of the 17th century, when Ukraine was part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, albeit in spite of being part of the PLC, not as a result. Among many schools established in that time, the Kyiv-Mohyla Collegium (the predecessor of the modern Kyiv-Mohyla Academy ), founded by the Orthodox Metropolitan Peter Mogila , was the most important. At that time languages were associated more with religions: Catholics spoke Polish, and members of

7742-448: The technical definition of the island and borders around it. The territorial limits of the continental shelf around Snake Island were delineated by the International Court of Justice in 2009, providing Romania with almost 80% of the disputed maritime territory. In the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine , two Russian navy warships attacked and captured Snake Island . It was subsequently bombarded heavily by Ukraine and recaptured within

7840-462: The term native language may not necessarily associate with the language they use more frequently. The overwhelming majority of ethnic Ukrainians consider the Ukrainian language native , including those who often speak Russian. According to the official 2001 census data, 92.3% of Kyiv region population responded "Ukrainian" to the native language ( ridna mova ) census question, compared with 88.4% in 1989, and 7.2% responded "Russian". In 2019,

7938-558: The territories controlled by these respective countries, which was followed by a new wave of Polonization and Russification of the native nobility. Gradually the official language of Ukrainian provinces under Poland was changed to Polish, while the upper classes in the Russian part of Ukraine used Russian. During the 19th century, a revival of Ukrainian self-identification manifested in the literary classes of both Russian-Empire Dnieper Ukraine and Austrian Galicia . The Brotherhood of Sts Cyril and Methodius in Kyiv applied an old word for

8036-546: The time, such as the merger of the Old East Slavic vowel phonemes и /i/ and ы /ɨ/ into the specifically Ukrainian phoneme /ɪ ~ e/, spelled with и (in the 13th/14th centuries), and the fricativisation of the Old East Slavic consonant г /g/, probably first to /ɣ/ (in the 13th century), with /ɦ/ as a reflex in Modern Ukrainian, did not happen in Russian. Only the fricativisation of Old East Slavic г /g/ occurred in Belarusian, where

8134-744: The two countries; nevertheless it did not make any official claim on the territories. The same year, in 1948, during the Cold War , a Soviet radar post was built on the isle (for both naval and anti-aircraft purposes). The Soviet Union's possession of Snake Island was confirmed in the Treaty between the Government of the People's Republic of Romania and the Government of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics on

8232-582: The university staff were openly Ukrainophobic . The university is situated in two parts of the city and occupies about 70 hectares. It is divided into a number of faculties that are directly administered by the university. The university consists of ten faculties, four institutes, one college, two "preparatory departments" for citizens of Ukraine and foreign countries, 15 scientific-research laboratories, five scientific institutes, administration departments, experimental training shops, and nine dormitories for students, post-graduates, and trainees. The university has

8330-516: The use of Ukrainian. The educational system in Ukraine has been transformed over the first decade of independence from a system that is partly Ukrainian to one that is overwhelmingly so. The government has also mandated a progressively increased role for Ukrainian in the media and commerce. In the 2001 census , 67.5% of the country's population named Ukrainian as their native language (a 2.8% increase from 1989), while 29.6% named Russian (a 3.2% decrease). For many Ukrainians (of various ethnic origins),

8428-575: Was a need for translators during negotiations for the Treaty of Pereyaslav , between Bohdan Khmelnytsky , head of the Zaporozhian Host , and the Russian state. By the 18th century, Ruthenian had diverged into regional variants, developing into the modern Belarusian , Rusyn , and Ukrainian languages. The accepted chronology of Ukrainian divides the language into Old Ukrainian, Middle Ukrainian, and Modern Ukrainian. Shevelov explains that much of this

8526-553: Was called Leuke due to its color. He and Stephanus of Byzantium mentioned that the island was also referred to as the Island of Achilles ( Ancient Greek : Ἀχιλλέως νῆσος and Ἀχίλλεια νῆσος ) and the Racecourse of Achilles ( Δρόμον Ἀχιλλέως and Ἀχίλλειος δρόμος ), though this is now identified with the Tendra Spit . The island was sacred to the hero Achilles and had a temple of

8624-548: Was exiled for seven years to Arkhangelsk . The Ukrainian magazine Osnova was discontinued. In 1863, the tsarist interior minister Pyotr Valuyev proclaimed in his decree that "there never has been, is not, and never can be a separate Little Russian language". Although the name of Ukraine is known since 1187, it was not applied to the language until the mid-19th century. The linguonym Ukrainian language appears in Yakub Holovatsky 's book from 1849, listed there as

8722-448: Was formed by convergence of tribal dialects, mostly due to an intensive migration of the population within the territory of today's Ukraine in later historical periods. This point of view was also supported by George Shevelov 's phonological studies, which argue that specific features were already recognizable in the southern dialects of Old East Slavic (seen as ancestors to Ukrainian) as far back as these varieties can be documented. As

8820-434: Was further reconstructed and equipped by the Black Sea Fleet . The lighthouse was further upgraded in 1975 and 1984. In 1988 a new radio beacon "KPM-300" was installed with radio signal range of 280 kilometres (150 nmi). In August 2004, the lighthouse was equipped with a radio beacon "Yantar-2M-200", which provides differential correction signal for global navigation satellite systems GPS and GLONASS . The lighthouse

8918-407: Was gradually Polonized. In Ruthenia, the language of administrative documents gradually shifted towards Polish. Polish has had heavy influences on Ukrainian (particularly in Western Ukraine ). The southwestern Ukrainian dialects are transitional to Polish. As the Ukrainian language developed further, some borrowings from Tatar and Turkish occurred. Ukrainian culture and language flourished in

9016-554: Was inevitable that successful careers required a good command of Russian, while knowledge of Ukrainian was not vital, so it was common for Ukrainian parents to send their children to Russian-language schools, even though Ukrainian-language schools were usually available. The number of students in Russian-language in Ukraine schools was constantly increasing, from 14 percent in 1939 to more than 30 percent in 1962. The Communist Party leader from 1963 to 1972, Petro Shelest , pursued

9114-482: Was lessened only slightly after 1985. The management of dissent by the local Ukrainian Communist Party was more fierce and thorough than in other parts of the Soviet Union. As a result, at the start of the Mikhail Gorbachev reforms perebudova and hlasnist’ (Ukrainian for perestroika and glasnost ), Ukraine under Shcherbytsky was slower to liberalize than Russia itself. Although Ukrainian still remained

9212-537: Was proclaimed in 1990 that Russian language was the all-Union state language and that the constituent republics had rights to declare additional state languages within their jurisdictions. Still it was implicitly understood in the hopes of minority nations that Ukrainian would be used in the Ukrainian SSR, Uzbek would be used in the Uzbek SSR , and so on. However, Russian was used as the lingua franca in all parts of

9310-737: Was rebuilt in 1922. The island, under Romanian control during the Second World War, was the location of a radio station used by the Axis forces, which turned it into a target for the Soviet Black Sea Fleet . The island's defences mainly consisted of several 122 mm and 76 mm anti-aircraft guns, captured from the Russians. The Romanian marine platoon defending the island was also equipped with two 45 mm coastal guns, two 37 mm anti-aircraft guns, and two anti-aircraft machine guns. The first naval action took place on 23 June 1941, when

9408-473: Was reorganized into the Imperial Novorossiya (New Russia) University. All academic and scientific life of the university—from the day of its foundation—was directed by the statute of 1863 that formed the liberal-democratic tradition of the higher institution which has been preserved in spite of all the disturbances in the social and political life of the country. From the very first years of its existence,

9506-400: Was substantially less the case for western Ukraine, which escaped the artificial famine , Great Purge , and most of Stalinism . And this region became the center of a hearty, if only partial, renaissance of the Ukrainian language during independence. Since 1991, Ukrainian has been the official state language in Ukraine, and the state administration implemented government policies to broaden

9604-532: Was widely used in education and official documents. The suppression by Russia hampered the literary development of the Ukrainian language in Dnipro Ukraine, but there was a constant exchange with Halychyna, and many works were published under Austria and smuggled to the east. By the time of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the collapse of Austro-Hungary in 1918, Ukrainians were ready to openly develop

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