Catherine the Great and the Dnipro Flotilla: River Power

In 1736, during the Russo-Turkish War, the Russian Empire launched a surprising naval force on the Dnipro River: a flotilla of Cossack-style chaiky and newly-built galleys, designed by foreign engineers and crewed by Zaporozhian Cossacks and Imperial sailors. Catherine the Great, still a young Grand Duchess, observed the flotilla's construction and later, as Empress, would revive the river fleet for her Greek Project. This episode follows the flotilla's role in the sieges of Ochakiv and Kinburn, the strategic use of the Dnipro estuary, and the forgotten legacy of Russia's riverine warfare. We also explore the cultural encounter between Western naval architects and the Cossack boat-building tradition, and how the Dnipro Flotilla paved the way for the Black Sea Fleet. #CatherineTheGreat #DniproFlotilla #RussoTurkishWar #ZaporozhianCossacks #Chaiky #Ochakiv #Kinburn #GreekProject #BlackSeaFleet #RiverWarfare #18thCentury #RussianHistory #EasternEurope #NavalHistory #CossackBoat #History #FexingoHistory #Empire Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo