Yes, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev ceded Crimea to Ukraine in 1954 (to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Treaty of Pereyaslav, which unified Ukraine and Russia); and, yes, Boris Yeltsin confirmed Crimea’s status during a period of fraught negotiations to dissolve the Soviet Union and secure Russia’s own statehood.
L’importance de forces d’extrême droite au sein du mouvement anti-Ianoukovitch « Maidan » a donné à Poutine un levier politique particulièrement efficace.