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The War for Crimea — It Began with Crimea, Will it End with Crimea?
In the words of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, “It began with Crimea; it will end with Crimea.”
Fortifications are set up across Crimean shores from Yalta, Feodosiya, and Sevastopol to Berdiansk, and elsewhere.
These are meant to deter a Ukrainian invasion.
Polls have hinted that a large majority of Ukrainians believe that Crimea should be brought back under its domain; Russia is doing everything it can at the moment to prevent that from happening.
It’s difficult to predict exactly how the conflict will continue. But it’s not hard to say that if Ukraine continues to be successful in (1) its defense and (2) its counteroffensives, an eventual war for Crimea will begin.
But what will it look like?
When Putin annexed Crimea in 2014, it was quite popular with the Russian public. Even anti-Putin dissidents, such as Alexei Navalny, have claimed that Crimea should belong to Russia.
The Levada-Chicago Council report in March 2015 found that approximately 70 percent of Russians polled thought positively about the annexation. Poll results today will be more difficult to verify as anti-war sentiment in Russia has been wildly restricted and even made illegal.
