The Ukrainian crisis gave to Moscow a unique opportunity to annex Crimea, the independence of which had never been fully accepted ... ... arranged by the self-proclaimed Crimean authorities resulted in 96,77% of people voting in favor of the integration of Crimea and Sevastopol into the Russian Federation[3]. The absorption of Crimea became effective on March 18, after President Vladimir Putin ...
.... Consequently, since 1991, Black Sea Fleet vessels’ maintenance has been performed by Baltic shipyards (either in Kaliningrad or in Saint Petersburg), and by Bulgarian shipyard (Varna), and, occasionally, by the Ship Repair Plant n° 13 in Sevastopol. This precarious maritime situation was one of the factors, with tensed relations with Kiev around the basing of the Black Sea fleet in Crimea, poor conditions for the personnel and unsufficient supply of new hardware to quote a few, that hampered ...
... 877V), 3 frigates (Projects 61M, 1135 and 1135M), 7 amphibious ships (Projects 775 and 1171), and several small units (antisubmarine warfare boats, small missile or artillery boats). Nearly 90% of the tonnage of the fleet is based in Crimea, mainly in Sevastopol (80%), and in Feodossia (9%)[1]. In 2014, the overall average age of the around 40 combat units is 36 years. The Black Sea Fleet is served by 12 000 to 16 000 service men dispatched primarily in Crimea, but in other naval and air assets such ...
... to the economic impact of such a move for Moscow. The takeover of the peninsula as well as Moscow’s involvement in the Ukrainian crisis have sparked economic sanctions from the Euro-Atlantic community. On the diplomatic stage, Western countries ... ... Kerch Strait Bridge is built, the heart of Crimea will be directly connected to Russia’s Kuban, putting Simferopol, and Sevastopol (the Sevastopol-Simferopol line already exists), from a few hours from Novorossiysk.
The other issue is energy supplies ...