Spits (), also called sandspits, are long, narrow coastal landforms that resemble sandbars or embankments and protrude into a body of water from a headland. Spits are formed by the process of longshore drift, in which waves impact the headland at a sharp angle, depositing sediment and causing the water's currents to transport the sediment down the beach, allowing it to accumulate in the area of the spit. Through the process of wave shoaling, this accumulated sediment becomes increasingly curved, resembling the appearance of a fish hook as the waves refract around the spit's end. Often lagoons, estuaries, and salt marshes will form near spits.
Numerous spits are located across the territory of Ukraine, particularly on the Sea of Azov and Black Sea's coasts as well as on the shores of major rivers. Due to natural and artificial changes, a number of islands in the country have become geographic spits as the straits separating them from the mainland have been filled, such as following the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine when Russian troops connected the then-largest island in Ukraine, Dzharylhach, to the mainland. There are also some geographic features that alternate in their classification as an island or as a spit based on variable weather and sea conditions, most notably Byriuchyi Island, which typically becomes an island in the autumn months when its narrow isthmus connection to the mainland is flooded by higher tides. In addition, there are several landforms commonly referred to as spits which have different geographical definitions, such as Tendra Spit in western Kherson Oblast, which is separated from the mainland by a strait, making it an island; and Katranska Spit in southern Odesa Oblast, which is fully connected from both ends to the mainland, making it an isthmus. Some spits, such as , have geographical spits that extend out from its main area, although these smaller features are generally considered as part of the larger spit's land. There are also spits that extend from islands, such as , which branches off from Tendra Spit.
Through history, Ukraine's geography has undergone significant changes, with there being numerous spits that have emerged and disappeared through natural and artificial processes. In classical antiquity, Tendra Spit and Dzharylhach both connected to the mainland coast to form a single, continuous spit called the Course of Achilles. Based on the combined current land areas of Tendra Spit and Dzharylhach as well as historical records, the Course of Achilles would have had a total area of between approximately and , making it one of the largest spits in Ukraine at that time. Another former, though smaller, spit was , which was historically located at the confluence of the Samara and Dnipro rivers; it became almost entirely submerged by the Dnipro Reservoir after the Dnipro dam's initial construction in 1932. Currently, there are 45 named geographical features recognized as spits in the State Register of Geographical NamesâÂÂthe country's official geoportal maintained by the . Of these, the largest spit in the country and the longest spit in the world is the Arabat Spit, which separates the western parts of the Sea of Azov from the SyvashâÂÂa large area of salty, shallow lagoons in Crimea. During the Russo-Ukrainian war, many of Ukraine's spits that came under Russian control as well as those near and far from the frontline have experienced significant damage or artificial alterations due to the fighting and detrimental policies of Russian military and occupation officials.
Following the Russian occupation and annexation of Crimea in 2014, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea-portion of the Arabat Spit, as well as additional smaller spits located on the Crimean peninsula, came under the control of Russian forces, who de facto administered the territory as part of the unrecognized Russian Republic of Crimea. Parts of the small, northern segment of the spit administratively located in Kherson Oblast, including the village of Strilkove, were also briefly occupied by unmarked Russian soldiers beginning from 15 March before their withdrawal on 9 December 2014. After the Donbas war, the Kryva Spit located in Donetsk Oblast was also occupied in 2014, with pro-Russian militants taking the spit's area and neighboring settlement of Siedove.
From the withdrawal of the Russian troops in December until the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the northern parts of the Arabat Spit were amongst the few areas geographically part of the Crimean peninsula that stayed under the control of Ukrainian authorities, while the Kryva Spit remained under the control of separatist forces as part of the Russian-backed Donetsk People's Republic. After the start of the full-scale invasion, the remaining northern segment of the Arabat Spit as well as the rest of Ukraine's Azov Sea coastline (including the five spits still under the control of Ukrainian authorities before 2022), were occupied by Russian forces. In addition, following their offensive into and occupation of Kherson Oblast, Russian troops also occupied the Kinburn and Bili Kuchuhury spits. The occupied spits were all integrated into Russia following its unilateral annexation of separatist-controlled and other Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine on 30 September 2022. Many of Ukraine's spits, including all of its Azov Sea spits, have remained under Russian de facto control since 2022 while the United Nations and most of the international community continue to recognize the territories as de jure part of Ukraine.