B Black Sea The Black Sea is a large body of water with 6 different countries on its banks Bulgaria Georgia Romania Russia Turkey and Ukraine Russia wants to capture Ukraine's port cities of Odessa Mariupol and Kerson so that they can control Ukrainian shipping The ships carry wheat corn and iron ore which Ukraine produces to other countries They also bring products that the Ukrainians need such as medicine machinery and oil Big freighters carry wheat corn and iron ore in bulk in big bins These ships weigh 50,000 tons or more Two good words to know are imports and exports imports are what is brought into a country exports are goods sent out
POLAND SLOVAKIA HUNGARY SERBIA NORTH MACEDONIA BELARUS ROMANIA BULGARIA GREECE UKRAINE MOLDOVA SEA OF AZOV BLACK SEA TURKEY RUSSIA GEORGIA Geography Point to Bulgaria Georgia Turkey Ukraine Russia Romania on the map on the next page ARMENIA Art Draw a big freighter a ship that might carry tons of grain Is there a crane on board for loading and unloading Where is the grain stored KAZAKHISTAN CASPIAN SEA AZERBAIJAN
C Crimea Crimea is a peninsula land almost completely surrounded by water on the Black Sea which has been occupied by Russia since 2014. And as you can see by the map it is small in size It has a population of about 2.4 million comprised mostly of Russians and Ukrainians Tourism is important for Crimea many Russians like to go south to Crimea for beach vacations Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 taking control from Ukraine through a kind of vote called a referendum which was thought to be illegal by much of the world Claiming it was the people's choice Vladimir Putin's Russia then took control of the region Volodymyr Zelensky wants Ukraine to regain control of Crimea ending what his country and the United States view as an illegal occupation The future of Crimea will be an important topic in any peace talks between Ukraine and Russia We will definitely liberate Crimea says Zelensky Crimea has always been an inseparable part of Russia says Putin
UKRAINE MOLDOVA Vocabulary peninsula annex Crimea Black Sea Peninsulas are good vacation spots Look for peninsulas on a map of the United States Name them Clue three of them are states and are vacation destinations
