Black Sea–Caspian Steppe Black Sea–Caspian Steppe The Black Sea-Caspian Steppe is an informal name for that part of the Eurasian Steppe that extends south between the Black and Caspian Seas. It is usually treated as part of the Pontic-Caspian steppe which includes the area north of the Black and Caspian Seas, but there is some reason to treat it as a distinct place. Its natural boundaries are the Sea of Azov and Black Sea on the west, the Caucasus Mountains on the south and the Caspian Sea on the east. Its northern boundary may be taken as the triangle formed by the lower
Caspian Sea Monster Caspian Sea Monster The KM (Korabl Maket) (Russian: Корабль-макет, literally "Ship-prototype"), known colloquially as the Caspian Sea Monster, was a Soviet experimental ground effect vehicle (ekranoplan) developed by the Central Hydrofoil Design Bureau in the 1960s. The KM began operation in 1966, and was continuously tested by the Soviet Navy until 1980, when it was destroyed in a testing accident and sank into the Caspian Sea. The KM was the largest and heaviest aircraft in the world from 1966 to 1988, and its surprise discovery by the United States and the subsequent attempts to determine its purpose became a distinctive