Whoever owns Crimea owns the Black Sea. This was well understood by the Byzantines, Genoese, Turks, who consistently owned the peninsula. In 1783, Empress Catherine II ordered the annexation of Crimea to Russia. Crimea became both a stronghold of Russia and a resort area. Almost all bases of the Black Sea Fleet and naval aviation were located there. Almost half of the aviation and missile regiments of the USSR were also in the Crimea.