evidence: The Sea of Azov is a small, shallow sea connected to the Black Sea. Kerch Strait, which is the only connection between the Azov Sea and the Black Sea, is located between Kerch peninsula in the West and Taman peninsula in the East. While the former peninsula is part of Crimea, the latter is located in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai. Kerch Strait is approximately 45 km in length and, at its narrowest point at the northern end of Chushka landspit, only about 3–5 km wide. Kerch-Yenikalsky canal, which was first built in 1877 and used to be operated by Ukraine, is the only waterway through Kerch Strait that is navigable by large ships. Smaller vessels can use the Russian fairway passages #50 and #52 situated east of the canal. [...] In this post, we have argued that there are two possible Scenarios for the current legal status of Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov. Under the first Scenario these waters are internal waters of Russia and Ukraine as they form part of a single bay regime that has only later evolved into a border bay. Under the second Scenario, the original bay regime dissolved with Ukraine’s independence or thereafter and Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov largely are part of the territorial sea of Ukraine and Russia. In addition, a patch of high seas (or potentially EEZs) exists in the central Sea of Azov (see Picture 3). While the second Scenario seems more likely, the following two parts of our contribution will take both Scenarios into account.