'The town, forts and harbours of Sebastopol', 1854. View of Sevastopol, a major port and naval base on the Crimean Peninsula, looking towards the Black Sea. In 1784 Catherine the Great of Russia ordered a fortress to be built there. A notable event in the town's history was the Siege of Sevastopol (1854-55) carried out by the British, French, Sardinian, and Turkish troops during the Crimean War. The city is administered as a federal city of the Russian Federation following Crimea's annexation by Russia in 2014, though Ukraine and most of the UN member countries continue to regard Sevastopol as a city with special status within Ukraine.