Caspian Sea the east often changed course to empty into the Caspian through a now-desiccated riverbed called the Uzboy River, as did the Syr Darya farther north. The Caspian also has several small islands; they are primarily located in the north and have a collective land area of roughly . Adjacent to the North Caspian is the Caspian Depression, a low-lying region below sea level. The Central Asian steppes stretch across the northeast coast, while the Caucasus mountains hug the western shore. The biomes to both the north and east are characterized by cold, continental deserts. Conversely, the climate to the southwest
Caspian Sea Monster prior to the first flight a bottle of champagne was broken against its nose, a tradition for the first voyage of a boat. On June 22, 1966, the completed KM began transportation to the testing grounds in the Caspian Sea near the town of Kaspiysk. It was transported from Gorky along the Volga in secret, covered in camouflage and moved along the river at night. The aircraft's first flight was on October 16, 1966, performed by V. Loginov and Rostislav Alexeyev himself, which was very unusual as most Soviet aircraft designers never piloted their own creations. All the works were