Republic of Erangel

The Republic of Erangel was an island nation in the Black Ocean located on Erangel Island from 1906 to 1918 and briefly in 1986.

History
A Byzantine trade colony was established on Erangel Island in the 9th century A.D, though the island was abandoned after the colony was destroyed by pirates thought to have originated from Bulgaria. Erangel Island was once more colonized by Venetians in 1697, who established the Duchy of Erangel (Ducato di Erangal) as a vassal state. In the early 18th century, the duchy provided military support to the Republic of Venice during the Seventh Ottoman-Venetian War. In 1793, the island was invaded by the Russian Empire, who swiftly defeated the local militias and occupied Erangel Island the following year. The Erangalsk Governorate was established as a division of the Russian Empire in 1799. Over the years, Erangel Island was Russianized and the local Italian culture and language gradually phased out of popularity (By 1950, 96% of the population spoke Russian, while 3% spoke Venetian and 1% spoke Italian). From 1887 to 1906, the locals of Erangel Island revolted against the Russian Empire and eventually declared their independence as the Republic of Erangel (Respublika Erangalsk). In 1918, the newly formed Soviet Union deployed a large fleet of warships to Erangel Island. The warships shelled the island's coasts while Soviet marines stormed many of the local settlements. After a battle that lasted five days and left around 300 soldiers dead, the Republic of Erangel surrendered and was annexed as an oblast (an administrative division) of the Soviet Union. At the height of World War II, Erangel Island suffered several air raids by German bombers as well as multiple power outages and terrorist attacks throughout the Cold War. In 1986, a capitalist movement rose on Erangel Island which revolted against the Soviets. The Republic of Erangel was briefly restored for less than two months before Soviet Armed Forces and local pro-Soviet militias pacified the revolt. In 1991 following the Soviet Union's collapse, Erangel became part of Ukraine. During the 2014 Annexation of Crimea, Erangel Island was also annexed and became part of the Russian Federation. A separatist group was subsequently formed resulting in the War in Erangel. As of 2016, 570 Russian Naval Infantry are deployed at Erangel Island and at least 350 military deaths were reported by 2017. On March 2017, Erangel Island's inhabitants were evacuated though fighting between Russian marines and Erangelan insurgents continues into 2018.