Crimea: The Spark That Set Off East-West Crisis

Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula seized by Russia from Ukraine a year ago, is a picturesque region of vineyards and tourist resorts, and a historic hotbed of geopolitical tensions.

A year ago the region became the spark for a bitter conflict between Russia and Ukraine and a wider breakdown in relations between Moscow and the West.

Gunmen and Referendum

In February 2014 unidentified gunmen, later revealed to be Russian soldiers, fanned out across the Belgium-sized province to support locals declaring independence from Kiev, where a pro-Western street revolt had thrown out the heavily corrupt Moscow-backed president.

In March, a hastily organised referendum in Crimea declared overwhelming support for Crimea becoming part of Russia. Formal annexation followed as two regions, Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, were added to Russia.

Few countries recognised the vote's result. Only 11 states, including North Korea, Russia, Syria and Venezuela, opposed a UN resolution backing Ukraine's territorial claim.

However, the swift seizure of Crimea was popular among Russians, stoking nationalist sentiment in favour of a strong Russia and against the West. President Vladimir Putin's approval ratings rocketed.

Soon after, pro-Russian separatists appeared in eastern Ukraine, taking on the weak Ukrainian army and carving out a swath of territory.

Putin supports the rebels battling for what he calls Novorossiya, or New Russia, and the war has boosted his domestic standing, even as Western sanctions and tumbling oil prices cripple the Russian economy.

Russian Fleet, Soviet Gift

One reason Moscow cares so much about Crimea is that its important Black Sea fleet has long been based at the port of Sevastopol.

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Crimea became part of independent Ukraine and Moscow had to lease the bases. With Ukraine's new pro-Western leaders calling for entry into NATO and the European Union, Russia's crucial naval presence was imperilled.

In any case, many Russians believe, Crimea shouldn't even belong to Ukraine.

Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev transferred Crimea in 1954 as a "gift" to Ukraine, but this was a largely symbolic move as both Ukraine and Russia were parts of the same country.

Of the 2.28 million people in Crimea, according to a census organised by Moscow in October, the vast majority consider themselves ethnic-Russians. Only 24 percent were listed as ethnic-Ukrainians before the annexation.

Tatars, Tragedy, War

Long before today's troubles, the picture-postcard setting of vineyards, tobacco plantations and ancient Greek archaeological remnants hid a dark history.

Moscow's reign began when the Black Sea Fleet dropped anchor in 1783 in Sevastopol taking over the peninsula ruled by the Crimean Khanate.

The Crimean War of 1853-56 pitted a losing Russia against Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire and German troops briefly occupied the region during World War II.

Then in February 1945, Allied leaders met in the Crimean resort of Yalta to carve up post-war Europe, a meeting frequently identified as the moment that helped set the dividing lines of the subsequent Cold War.

Less well known is Soviet dictator Stalin's deportation in 1944 of the entire population of Muslim Crimean Tatars.

Along with several ethnic minorities in the Soviet Caucasus, they were accused of having collaborated with the invading Nazis and sent by cattle trains to remote parts of Central Asia. Huge numbers did not survive the brutal journey.

Today, Crimean Tatars comprise about 13 percent of the region's population. However, their pro-Ukrainian sentiment means their future is again uncertain.

Isolated Paradise

Kiev has cut train and airline service to Crimea and forbids telephone operators to connect to Crimea's new Russian numbers, isolating its residents.

The peninsula continues to depend on mainland Ukraine for its water and most electricity. And both the United States and the European Union in December imposed sanctions banning investment in Crimea.
That leaves an unreliable ferry to Russia as the sole link to the outside world.

Moscow has announced plans to build a $3 billion bridge across the Kerch Strait, but analysts say the pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine may expand their war to create a land corridor along the Black Sea coast.

That would mean more war, and more international fallout.