Studies into the feasibility of the project were first undertaken by the Soviet Union in the late 1930s, although World War II made progress at this time impossible.

The project was intended primarily to serve a military purpose, allowing better connection between Sakhalin and the mainland for sections of the Red Army stationed on the island.

After the death of Stalin in March 1953, work on the project stopped, with the tunnel allegedly almost halfway across the straits, although later investigation has shown that just two shafts were built.

[4] While the reasons for cancellation of the project are not fully clear, some sources have indicated that because of numerous amnesties granted to prisoners after Stalin's death, there was no longer the required workforce.

[5] Around 120 kilometres (75 miles) of track along the right bank of the Amur River from Selikhino to Chyorny Mys was completed, although this was still well short of the planned tunnel entrance at Cape Lazarev.

[9] There have also been proposals to connect the southern tip of Sakhalin to the Japanese island of Hokkaido via a 40-kilometre-long (25 mi) bridge or tunnel, providing a direct land transport link for container traffic from Japan to the Asian mainland and Europe.

[10][11] In July 2018, Russia's president Vladimir Putin commissioned an analysis of a proposal to build a bridge from the Russian mainland to Sakhalin on the northernmost part of the Strait of Tartary.