SarmatiansThe Sarmatians (sɑrˈmeɪʃiənz; Sarmatai; Latin: Sarmatae ˈsarmatae̯) were a large confederation of ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic peoples of classical antiquity who dominated the Pontic steppe from about the 3rd century BC to the 4th century AD. Originating in the central parts of the Eurasian Steppe, the Sarmatians were part of the wider Scythian cultures. They started migrating westward around the fourth and third centuries BC, coming to dominate the closely related Scythians by 200 BC.
Black SeaThe Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia and Georgia. The Black Sea is supplied by major rivers, principally the Danube, Dnieper and Don. Consequently, while six countries have a coastline on the sea, its drainage basin includes parts of 24 countries in Europe.
OmskOmsk ('ɒmsk; Омск, omsk) is the administrative center and largest city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia and has a population of over 1.1 million. Omsk is the third largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk and Krasnoyarsk, and the twelfth-largest city in Russia. It is an important transport node, serving as a train station for the Trans-Siberian Railway and as a staging post for the Irtysh River. During the Imperial era, Omsk was the seat of the Governor General of Western Siberia and, later, of the Governor General of the Steppes.
CimmeriansThe Cimmerians were an ancient Eastern Iranic equestrian nomadic people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe, part of whom subsequently migrated into West Asia. Although the Cimmerians were culturally Scythian, they formed an ethnic unit separate from the Scythians proper, to whom the Cimmerians were related and who displaced and replaced the Cimmerians. The Cimmerians themselves left no written records, and most information about them is largely derived from Assyrian records of the 8th to 7th centuries BC and from Graeco-Roman authors from the 5th century BC and later.
FeodosiaFeodosia (Феодо́сія, Теодо́сія, Feodosiia, Teodosiia; Феодосия, Feodosiya), also called in English Theodosia (from Θεοδοσία), is a town of regional significance on the Crimean coast of the Black Sea. Feodosia serves as the administrative center of Feodosia Municipality, one of the regions into which Crimea is divided. During much of its history, the city was known as Caffa (Ligurian: Cafà; Crimean Tatar and Kefe) or Kaffa. According to the 2014 census, its population was 69,145.
CossacksThe Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic Orthodox Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of Ukraine and southern Russia. Historically, they were a semi-nomadic and semi-militarized people, who, while under the nominal suzerainty of various Eastern European states at the time, were allowed a great degree of self-governance in exchange for military service. Although numerous linguistic and religious groups came together to form the Cossacks, most of them coalesced and became East Slavic-speaking Orthodox Christians.
DnieperThe Dnieper ((də)ˈniːpər), also called Dnipro (dəˈniːprəʊ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and Belarus and the fourth-longest river in Europe, after the Volga, Danube, and Ural rivers. It is approximately long, with a drainage basin of . In antiquity, the river was part of the Amber Road trade routes.
Crimean WarThe Crimean War was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Sardinia-Piedmont. Geopolitical causes of the war included the decline of the Ottoman Empire, the expansion of the Russian Empire in the preceding Russo-Turkish Wars, and the British and French preference to preserve the Ottoman Empire to maintain the balance of power in the Concert of Europe.
VolgogradVolgograd (Волгогра́д), formerly Tsaritsyn (Цари́цын; tsɐˈrjitsɨn) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (Сталингра́д; stəljɪnˈɡrat) (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area of , with a population of slightly over one million residents. Volgograd is the sixteenth-largest city by population size in Russia, the second-largest city of the Southern Federal District, and the fourth-largest city on the Volga.
BelarusiansBelarusians (bielarusy) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Belarus. More than 9.5 million people proclaim Belarusian ethnicity worldwide. Nearly 8 million Belarusians reside in Belarus, with the United States and Russia being home to more than half a million Belarusians each. During the Soviet era, Belarusians were referred to as Byelorussians or Belorussians (from Byelorussia, derived from Russian "Белоруссия"). Before, they were typically known as White Russians or White Ruthenians (from White Russia or White Ruthenia, based on "Белая Русь").