neolex,

It’s a bit off topic, but not really. Feelings run really deep in Crimea and Putin walks on water. The Kyiv govt has a policy of linguistically Ukrainizing the Russian majority – all education and all official documents must now be in Ukrainian. This is a godsend for Ukrainian translators and an additional expense and nuisance for people eking by on $100 a month. An additional aggravation is the perceived preference by Kyiv for the Crimean Tatars. (Another heartbreaking story … )
Typical of borderlands, Crimea is more self consciously Russian than most areas of Russia itself. The Crimean War, the Russian civil war and the “Great Patriotic War” are integral to the Crimean identity. The whole peninsula is dotted with war memorials and it is still the custom for newlywed brides to leave their bouquets at these shrines.
The differences in Ukraine are very real.

The divisions in Ukraine are very real