American Navy Sailors Visiting Sevastopol, Crimea in 1989

So when Gorbachev announced “perestroyka” (change) such visits became possible. Two American Navy ships USS Thomas S. Gates (CG-51) and USS Kauffman (FFG-59) arrived to previously “closed” city of Sevastopol – main base of Soviet and then Russian Navy at the Black Sea.

Sevastopol before was impossible to visit by American or any NATO ship. It was so important for Russian Navy that even after USSR collapse when Crimea became Ukrainian the Sevastopol continued to most of all Russian Black Sea fleet.

American sailor with Gorbachev and Lenin portraits, Soviet flags.

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