Crimea's role in the Russia-Ukraine war explained

Crimea remains central to the Russia-Ukraine war because of its strategic Black Sea location, its 2014 annexation by Moscow and its use as a military and logistics hub.

Russia seized the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 after masked gunmen without insignia took control of government buildings and strategic sites. Moscow then organised what it called a referendum on joining Russia. Ukraine and Western countries denounced the vote as a sham and imposed sanctions on Russia.

Crimea is internationally regarded as part of Ukraine, while Russia's annexation is recognised by only a small number of countries, including North Korea and Venezuela. Moscow tightly controls life on the peninsula, banning Ukrainian symbols and effectively requiring residents to obtain Russian passports.

The peninsula has long had strategic value. It juts into the Black Sea and includes the port of Sevastopol, where Russia retained rights to station its Black Sea Fleet under 1990s agreements after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

In February 2022, Russia used Crimea as one of the bases for its full-scale attack on Ukraine after building up troops and equipment there. During the war, Ukraine has regularly targeted the peninsula with drones and missiles, saying the strikes are justified retaliatory attacks on military sites, energy facilities and supply routes.

Ukraine has also reported military successes in the Black Sea, including the sinking of several Russian ships with naval drones. In September 2023, Kyiv hit the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, killing a top commander and officers.

The Kerch bridge linking Crimea to Russia is another key symbol and supply route. Russia opened the 19-kilometre road-and-rail bridge in 2018. Ukraine blew up part of it in October 2022 in an attack claimed by its security services. Moscow later sentenced eight men to life in prison over the attack; they said they were innocent or had been used by Kyiv without their knowledge.

Crimean Tatars, a majority-Muslim ethnic group historically from the peninsula, have faced repression accusations against Russia since the annexation. Moscow banned their governing body, the Mejilis, which moved to Kyiv, and held a series of high-profile trials against Crimean Tatars.