A couple of historical snippets on the situation in the Crimea before today. I spent a week there twelve years ago; a brilliant place for a holiday I digress.

The population of Sevastopol, the biggest city, had then shrunk by a third; after Ukrainian independence and many ethnic, young Russians returning to the "motherland" to pursue employment. A disproportionate number of the population were already retired, on meager Soviet-era pensions (including ex-military) or faced retirement.

The Black Sea fleet had dispensed with nearly all its old vessels, especially submarines, but shared the harbour with the Ukrainian navy. The Russian army still had some facilities, including historical WW2 sites and near Simferopol, the capital, there was a large Russian air force base with TU22 Blinders and Mig-25/27 fighters. The civil airport @ Simferopol shared it with the Russian Air Force. On the approaches to Sevastapol the single track railway bridges all had Russian Army guards and a plethora of active radar & SAM sites.

The Crimean Tartars IIRC were deported after 1944, ostensibly as they sided with the Germans and were not returned home till after Stalin's death. That is not something you forget as a community.