Russia’s illegal seizure of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in March 2014 was quick and bloodless, and it sent Moscow’s relations with the West into a downward spiral unseen since the Cold War. It also paved the way for Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, during which Moscow annexed more land from the war-torn country. The diamond-shaped peninsula in the Black Sea is coveted by both Russia and Ukraine for its naval bases and beaches. Putin has called the peninsula “a sacred place” and has prosecuted those who publicly argue it is part of Ukraine. The peninsula was home to Turkic-speaking Tatars when the Russian empire first annexed it in the 18th century.