Fortification of the period of the Russo-Turkish war of 1735–1739 near the Vorona river in the Dnipro Nadporizhzhya
Authors: Filimonov Dmytro 
Published: July 2022

During the Russo-Turkish War of 1735–1739, dozens of temporary ground fortifications were built on the territory of the lower Prydniprovya region to provide communication with the Ukrainian line of Russian troops operating in the lower reaches of the Dnipro and the Crimea. The same is true for the left bank of the cataracted part of the Dnipro river flow, along which the Dnipro army passed to the Crimea during the campaign of 1736, which resulted in the formation of Russian military outposts on this territory. These fortifications are still poorly explored both in terms of historiography and archaeology. Many of them are still not localized on the modern geographical map. Furthermore, the conditions of their topographic placement and features of the engineering configuration are not clarified. The current situation concerning this issue makes a comprehensive study on the events of the Russo-Turkish War of 1735–1739, and especially its initial stage impossible. In particular, it is impossible to reconstruct the path used by the Dnipro Army during the Crimean campaign of 1736 without localization of field fortifications, as well as to study such important aspects as the organization of its supply and the establishment of courier communication with the Ukrainian line. The purpose of the article is to analyze the published written sources concerning the processes related to the construction and operation of the fortification of the Russo-Turkish War of 1735–1739, located on the territory of the Dnipro Nadporozhzhya, near the Vorona river, as well as to determine the location of this fortification using the cartographic material and historiographical descriptions and to clarify the peculiarities of its engineering configuration. Research methods: systemic structural, chronological, geographical, comparative, descriptive. Core results: the article shows the reasons for the construction and functioning of the sconce built on the right bank of the Vorona River, the left tributary of the Dnipro river. The chronological framework for the existence of this fortification is specified; its role in the events of the Crimean campaign of 1736 is determined, and the composition and number of the garrison located in it are clarified. Through the use of cartographic material of the first half of the 18th century and the end of the 19th – first half of the 20th century, the location is determined and the conditions of topographic placement of the remains of the studied fortification before the construction of the Dnipro Hydroelectric Station Dam in the early 1930s are clarified. The features of fortification of this temporary field entrenchment are defined. The practical significance of the materials obtained in this research lies in the possibility of their further use in writing scientific articles and generalizing works on the history of Ukraine and Eastern Europe in the first half of the 18th century. Scientific novelty: issues related to the emergence and functioning of the fortification near the Vorona river at the initial stage of the Russo-Turkish War of 1735–1739 are considered for the first time in historiography. The location is determined and the features of the engineering configuration of this defensive structure are clarified. Furthermore, three manuscript plans of the late 19th – first half of the 20th century, revealed in the funds of Dmytro Yavornytsky National Historical Museum of Dnipro, are introduced into scientific circulation. Type of article: research.