Ukrainian line

Ukrainian defensive line was a Russian heavily fortified defensive line on the territory of modern Ukraine built between 1731–1764 on the lands of the Zaporozhian Sich and the Cossack Hetmanate. Built by imperial Russia, it strengthened the defense of the southern borders from Tatar incursions and established military bases in approximation to the Crimea. 285 kilometers in length, it comprised 16 newly-constructed forts and 4 old forts repaired. The first stage was built from 1731–40 and subsequent construction began in the 1740s.

Ukrainian Line
Ukraine
Ukrainian Line in 1737
Type	Defensive line
Site information
Controlled by	Novorossiysk Governorate of the Russian Empire
Site history
Built	1731–1764
In use	1731–1770th
Materials	Natural features, moats, earthworks

History of construction

Since the late 1720s, the Russian Empire began to actively prepare for war with the Ottoman Empire for the return of Azov and Northern Azov Sea Region. The Ukrainian line was built to prevent the Tatar incursion into the Poltava territory of the Hetmanate and the Kharkov territory of Sloboda Ukraine. The line proved to be of limited success given the distance between the fortresses and that the Crimean Tatars excelled in asymmetrical warfare, here by raiding through gaps in the Russian defense lines. The bulk of the work on the construction was done by Ukrainian Cossacks and peasants in 1731–1732. Every year 20 thousand Cossacks and 10 thousand peasants of Hetmanate worked on the line, who were obliged to work with their inventory and supplies, every 10th with an ox and the Cossacks with their weapons. Thousands of Ukrainians lost their lives in the construction of the line. After signing the Treaty of Belgrade in 1739 and the transfer of the Russian-Turkish border from the territory between the Samara and Oril rivers on the Azov Sea, work on the line was terminated, and with the construction of the Dnieper line in 1770–1783, the Ukrainian line lost its military defensive value.

Structure of the Line

The line ran from the Oril river to the Siverskyi Donets River. The Ukrainian line consisted of 16 forts and 49 redoubts.

Locations

Fortress Name	Other Name	Nearest settlement	Years	Coordinates
Borisoglebskaya fortress	Parhomiv Buyrak, after 1738 called Tenth Fortress	Rudka	1731–1742	48.803148, 34.330804
Bilevska fortress		Berestyn		49.369017, 35.452845
Efrem fortress		Yefremivka	1731–1742	49.441978, 36.064019
Kozlivska fortress	Krutoyarska Fortress	Skalonivka	1731	49.189962, 35.169081
Livenskaya fortress		Livenske		49.109136, 34.519317
Orel fortress	after 1738 called Ninth Fortress	Diachkivka	1731–1742	49.472411, 35.722404
Ryazhskaya fortress		Riaske		49.173816, 34.916266
St. Alexis fortress		Oleksiivka	1731–1742	49.392243, 36.264049
St. John (Ioanivska) Fortress		Ivanivske	1731–1742	49.440044, 35.585453
St. Michael fortress	Michael fortress, after 1738 called Kyselna Fortress (Kisel, Kizel)	Mykhailivka	1731–1742	49.321668, 36.446030
St. Paraskeva fortress	Paraskivska Fortress	Paraskoviia	1731–1742	49.517610, 35.868816
St. Peter fortress	Peter's fortress to 1738, after called Donetsk fortress	Petrivske	1731	49.163730, 36.890191
St. Theodore fortress	Theodore fortress after 1738 called Driyetska fortress or New Castle)	Zaliniine	1731	49.168657, 35.093911
Slobodskaya fortress	after 1738 called Lozovaya Fortress	Pavlivka	1731	49.215590, 36.578546
Tambov fortress	after 1738 called Buzova castle or fortress Busov	Marivka	1731	49.136049, 36.741880
Vasylivska fortress		Nekhvoroshcha	1731–1736	49.164035, 34.752155

For defense there were 20 regiments of land militia, (14 cavalry regiments, and six infantry regiments) with about 22 000; it had 180 artillery guns and 39 mortars. In 1740 there were 18 forts and 140 redoubts. Bilevska castle was the center of the line. Until 1764, a land militia office was located there.