Urta-Tugay: a disputed island on the Panj in pre-revolutionary and Soviet-Afghan relations

The article analyzes the history of the development of the border crisis in Russian and Soviet-Afghan relations from the late 50s of the XIX century to the 40s of the XX century due to the large island on the Panj of Urta-Tugai. The focus of the research is the events of the end of 1925-the first half of 1926, when the crisis reached its climax and was ready to result in an open military conflict. The author sees the main cause of the crisis in that the USSR, for political reasons, did not comply with internationally recognized norms on the use of border rivers on the Afghan border in the 1920s. However, the transfer of the island to Afghanistan was also largely a political decision of the Kremlin. The article analyzes the goals, objectives and role of the Soviet military and political bodies and structures that made decisions on the conflict with Afghanistan, builds the logic of the relationship between the Soviet leadership and this country. An important line and conclusion of the article-changes in the status of Urta-Tugai pushed the Soviet leadership to serious reforms in the entire border system on the Central Asian borders, to abandon the structures of the Turkfront and to a more rapid transition to forms of peaceful life.