From the Editor
“In winter in a sled with a dog harness, and in summer incessantly with an oar and with a pole”, these words of the Yeniseysk voivode A.L. Oshanin reflect a complex process of mastering the vast expanses of Northeastern Eurasia, unthinkable without creating an extensive transport network. The issue of the Historical Courier offered to the readers is devoted to the discussion of a set of problems related to the formation and development of water communications in Northeastern Eurasia (which in historiography is increasingly understood as the territory of the modern Russian Federation), starting from ancient times up to the present day. The rapid and successful development of water (both river and sea) arteries, which served as the main transport routes, provided a strong connection between the western and eastern, northern and southern territories. How important was the meaning of water communications for the study and economic development of hard–to-reach areas, what role they played in the daily life of various segments of the population, how sometimes difficult and even dramatic it was to the search and open new ways for the passage of water transport, the points of interaction in this matter between the state and representatives of private capital – all these issues are characterized in the materials published in the issue.