23 August 2026
(PHOTO: khers-on.com)
On a map, the Kinburn Peninsula appears as a narrow strip of land between the Dnipro-Bug Estuary and the Black Sea, but in reality, it is a complex system of sand dunes, steppes, forests, lakes, estuaries, and coastal landscapes. We’ll be exploring this very system in the next installment of Intent’s“Amazing South” series.
The Kinburn Peninsula is part of the Lower Dnieper Sand Arena. It is bordered by the Dnieper-Bug Estuary to the north and by the Black Sea, as well as the Tendrivska and Yagorlytska Bays, to the south. The total length of the peninsula, including the Kinburn Spit, is about 45 km, and its maximum width—including the Pokrovsk Spit—is approximately 13.5 km. The peninsula’s area is about 215.55 km². Approximately 56.7% of this territory lies within the Mykolaiv Oblast, with the remainder in the Kherson Oblast.
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Kinburn Peninsula. PHOTO: ukrainaincognita.com
The peninsula juts into the surrounding waters via two distinct sand spits—the Kinburn Spit, located in the northwest, and the Pokrovsk Spit, located in the southeast. Today we’ll take a closer look at the most famous of the two—the Kinburn Spit.
The Kinburn Spit is a sandy landform in the northwestern part of the Kinburn Peninsula. It stretches between the Black Sea and the Dnieper-Bug Estuary and partially separates the estuary from the open sea. The spit was formed as a result of the long-term accumulation and movement of sand and sandy-shell deposits under the influence of waves, currents, and wind.
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Kinburn Spit. PHOTO: ukraine.inflotcruises.com
Depending on how the spit’s boundaries are defined, its length is estimated by various sources to be approximately 8.5–10 km. From its broad base, it gradually narrows toward its tip—the head or spire. The contours of this part of the spit are not constant: under the influence of storms, waves, and coastal currents, the shoreline and the width of the spit can change.
A distinctive feature of the Kinburn Spit is its location at the boundary of two bodies of water. On one side, it is washed by the waters of the Dnieper-Bug Estuary, whose salinity varies depending on river discharge and the inflow of seawater, and on the other—by the waters of the Black Sea. The most striking juxtaposition of these water bodies is observed near the spit’s tip, at the outlet of the Dnieper-Bug Estuary into the Black Sea.
The Kinburn Spit is part of the eponymous “Kinburn Spit” Regional Landscape Park, which was established in 1992 in the western part of the Kinburn Peninsula. Later, in 2009, the “Sviatoslav’s White Coast” National Nature Park was established on its basis, encompassing the spit and a large part of the rest of the peninsula. We’ll discuss this nature reserve in more detail in a future issue.
The name “Kinburn” is of Turkic origin and consists of the words kil (hair) and burun (cape, nose), meaning “a thin strand of hair,” “a sharp, narrow cape,” or “a hair-like cape.” Turkish sailors gave the spit this name because of its physical and geographical shape—a narrow, long, and thin sandbar extending far out into the sea.
Later, as these lands passed from one state to another during wars, Europeans and Ukrainians adapted the Turkish word to suit their own tastes. Thus, the modern name familiar to us today—Kinburn—became permanently established on maps and in history textbooks.
Gileya is the oldest known name for the region where the modern Kinburn Peninsula is located. From ancient Greek, the place name “Gileya” can be translated as “land of forests” or “land under a dense forest.” This is how the historian Herodotus described this then-lush territory as early as the 5th century B.C. This historical region stretched from the left bank of the Lower Dnieper to Kinburn and the shores of the Black Sea. During the time of the Scythians, it was a vast lowland, densely overgrown with centuries-old deciduous forests.
Opposite the Kinburn Peninsula lay the powerful ancient city-state of Olbia, for which Kinburn served as an important natural and raw material resource.
From the late 15th century, the peninsula was part of the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire. It was here, on the spit, that the Ottomans built a stone fortress and named it Kilburun. The fortress controlled the exit from the Dnieper-Bug Estuary into the Black Sea.
Initially, it was a small castle with a watchtower, where a Turkish garrison was stationed. In the 18th century, the stronghold underwent a major reconstruction. The Turks transformed it into a massive square fortress. It had stone walls, corner bastions, and a deep moat filled with seawater.
Life bustled inside the fortress. There was a large stone mosque, barracks for soldiers, warehouses for weapons and gunpowder, and even a small bazaar. A whole town of houses sprang up around the walls.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the territory of the Kinburn Peninsula came under the influence of the Zaporizhian Cossacks. The Prohnoivska Palanka—an administrative-territorial unit of the New Sich—was formed here. The main economic function of the Cossack outpost was salt production. The Zaporizhian Cossacks controlled the large salt lakes located on the mainland part of the peninsula, supplying salt not only to the Sich but also to the markets of the Hetmanate and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In addition, the palanka served a defensive function, guarding the borders and crossings against raids by nomads.
The Zaporizhian Cossacks repeatedly carried out successful attacks on the Turkish fortress (notably in 1669, 1688, and 1692).
In 1787, the famous Battle of Kinburn took place here, during which the Russian Imperial forces, under the command of A. Suvorov, defeated the Ottoman landing force. During the Crimean War in 1855, the peninsula became the site of another battle between the Russian and Anglo-French fleets. The Anglo-French fleet bombarded the fortress for several hours straight. The walls were reduced to ruins, the powder magazines exploded, and the garrison surrendered. After the war, it was decided not to rebuild the fortress. It officially ceased to exist.
Today, almost nothing remains of Kinburn’s majestic walls. Local residents took some of the stones to build houses in the surrounding villages, while the rest were buried by sand and swallowed by the sea. However, on satellite maps, the artificial ramparts and the contours of the deep defensive moat are still clearly visible in the terrain, serving as a reminder of the former might of the “Hair Cape.”
The Volyzhyn Forest is a unique natural complex within the Black Sea Biosphere Reserve of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, located on the Kinburn Peninsula. This forest is one of the last remaining fragments of the relict forests of the Lower Dnieper sandy region, known from ancient sources. It is a direct descendant of the legendary Gileia—a forested region described by Herodotus two and a half millennia ago.
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Volyzhyn Forest. PHOTO: ua.igotoworld.com
The Volyzhin Forest is a protected corner of pristine nature. The forest’s vegetation thrives in moist sandy lowlands (kolky), where the table of fresh groundwater lies close to the surface. The tree stand consists primarily of ancient common oaks, with some individual trees reaching 300–400 years of age. Dnieper birch, sticky alder, elm, and aspen are also common here. A characteristic feature of the forest is the high density of vines, particularly wild grapevine and common hop, which create a dense undergrowth and form a specific microclimate with elevated air humidity.
The forest’s hydrological network consists of a series of freshwater and brackish lakes, which support a rich wetland and forest bird community. The forest is an important habitat for birds: they nest here and stop over during seasonal migrations. In total, over 200 bird species have been recorded in this area. Among the mammals found here are the European roe deer, wild boar, spotted deer, badger, and hare.
The Kinburn Spit is not just a strip of sand between the sea and the estuary. It contains a system of inland water bodies, some of which are of great importance to migratory and nesting birds.
Kinburn’s wetland ecosystems are connected to the Dnipro-Bug Estuary, the Yagorlytsia Bay, and adjacent water bodies. Parts of the Yagorlytska Bay, including islands, spits, and inland lakes, are designated as wetlands of international importance. These areas are of particular ecological value, as they serve as breeding and resting grounds for waterfowl and shorebirds.
About 300 species of birds can be found on the peninsula. They use these lands as nesting sites, areas of seasonal concentration, and wintering grounds. According to encyclopedic and conservation sources, 67 bird species recorded on the Kinburn Spit are listed in Ukraine’s Red Book. Notable species include herons, waders, terns, gulls, pelicans, birds of prey, and numerous species of passerines.
A particularly well-known inhabitant of the region is the pink pelican. In various years, significant gatherings of this species have been observed on Kinburn and in the surrounding areas. The Kinburn water bodies are of particular importance to birds precisely because of their combination of shallow waters, islands, reed beds, and open foraging areas.
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Pink pelicans. PHOTO: storage.googleapis.com
In winter, you can spot the white-tailed eagle here. In some years, up to 300 individuals of this rare bird of prey have been recorded in the Kinburn area and nearby water bodies.
Following the occupation, the Kinburn Peninsula became a zone of active hostilities. Russian troops used it as a staging ground, particularly for shelling Ochakiv and other areas of the Mykolaiv region. Combat operations, mining, the establishment of military positions, and numerous fires caused significant damage to the peninsula’s natural ecosystems. According to satellite monitoring data, 131 fires were recorded here during the first year of the full-scale war alone, and their impact spread across thousands of hectares. Environmentalists estimate that up to 4 million trees were affected. The habitats of many plant and animal species have also been damaged.
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The consequences of Russian aggression on Kinburn. PHOTO: suspilne.media
Kinburn’s sandy landscapes have also been affected. The movement of heavy military equipment and the construction of roads, trenches, and other fortifications disrupt the soil and vegetation cover, and in sandy areas can exacerbate erosion and sand drift. The restoration of such natural ecosystems after the end of hostilities could take decades.
On June 25, 2026, it was reported that the Ukrainian Defense Forces had raised the blue-and-yellow flag there after powerful strikes forced the Russian occupiers to retreat from their northern and western positions and begin an evacuation. However, Kinburn is not yet fully liberated. It remains, as before, a hot zone of clashes and active combat operations.
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