VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
Russky Island is in Peter the Great Gulf south of Vladivostok. The Eastern Bosphorus Strait separates it from the Muravyev Amursky Peninsula, which holds most of the city of Vladivostok. To the west, the island touches the Amur Gulf, and to the south and east, the Ussuri Gulf. North of the next island in the archipelago, Popov Island, the Stark Strait separates Russky from Popov. The island has several bays, the largest of which is Novik Bay.
The island has a population of 5,360. Its land area, included in the state and municipal register of the city, covers 53,783 ha. Privatised land covers 2,371 ha.
Russky Island was first mentioned in the 18th century: it was put on a sea map in 1723 when the famous French cartographer Jean Baptiste Bourguignon D'Anville drew up a description of Far Eastern seas. Count Nikolai Muravyov Amursky, the governor-general of Eastern Siberia, gave the island its name. Officially, the island became part of Russia in the second half of the 19th century. According to one version, the island was christened Russky in honour of Russia and its people who contributed a great deal to Far Eastern exploration. According to another, the island's name dates from a later period and repeats the name of Russky Mountain, named after one of the first Russian explorers of the island. .
In 1862, an expedition led by Lieutenant-Colonel Vasily Babkin, of the Navigator Corps, made a full and complete survey of the island when mapping the Peter the Great Gulf. In 1865, a map was issued, giving all the island's details, and naming it after Rear Admiral Pyotr Kazakevich, the military governor of the Primorye Territory. Initially, the island was alternatively called either Russky or Kazakevich but after the Second World War it came to be known by its present name.
As coastal defences were built and more troops were stationed on the island, more civilians came to serve military needs, do the gardening and supply vegetables for the island and for Vladivostok. At that time, the civilian population numbered 236, rising to 3,000 by 1895.
In 1890, plans to build the Vladivostok Fortress were drawn up under the supervision of Lieutenant-Colonel (Engineering) K. Chernoknizhnikov. They highlighted for the first time the geographic position of the island in terms of defending Vladivostok. The plans provided for the construction of a fort on Russkaya Mt. and a canal across the isthmus in the north of the island.
The completion of the canal in 1898, which linked the Eastern Bosphorus Strait with Novik Bay, and provided shelter for submarines during the Russian-Japanese war, was particularly important for the development of Russky Island.
Between 1899 and 1914, as relations with Japan became strained, active steps were taken to build the Vladivostok Fortress on the island. An aerial ropeway was installed to deliver materials to construction sites. By 1915, Russky had 6 forts and 27 coastal batteries, gunpowder magazines, cartridge stores, a pier for ships, a firing control (torpedo) station, and 4 telephone exchanges.
The island's population had reached 25,000 by 1908. Construction of the fortress was halted in 1922 when Japanese troops, under a treaty with the Soviet government, agreed to pull out of Primorye on condition that the fortress be closed. Also in 1908, the island built Russia's first health monitoring station reliably protecting Vladivostok against plague, cholera and other diseases.
For a long time access to Russky Island was restricted, because of the presence of the numerous military units and the reputation of the Vladivostok Fortress. A military camp was established on the island in Soviet times. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the White Swan health centre was set up on the island, with Russky becoming a recreation spot for Vladivostok residents.
In 2005, the Primorye administration drafted an investment plan for the island's development. Under the plan, the island is to have a biological and information technology centre, a world-class university, and an inter-regional medical centre. The programme also provides for the building of sports, recreation, museum and hotel facilities, as well as housing. Under the state contract # 59 of September 11, 2008, construction of a bridge linking the island with the mainland began in September. The construction force includes 3,546 workers and 294 pieces of machinery and equipment.
By October 5, 2009, 83,100 cubic metres of reinforced concrete, or 63% of the current year's plan, was poured in place, and 640 tons of metal structure, or 32% of the 2009 target, installed.
Before the end of the year, planners expect to complete foundations for in-situ piles, foundation bases on all piers and the bridge structure on 27 piers.
A major construction programme is under way on the island to prepare for a 2012 APEC summit in Vladivostok. All summit facilities are concentrated on the Saperny Peninsula. The project provides for the building, on an area of 2,800 ha, of a large international business centre, several hotels, an oceanarium, and the Pacific Research and Education Centre to merge several research institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
