Four Reasons Crimea Has Become Crucial in the Ukraine War
Escalating drone strikes, fuel shortages and power cuts in the region Russia annexed are among the factors turning up the heat on President Vladimir V. Putin. Yevpatoriya, Crimea, last month. The Black Sea region, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, has become a flashpoint in the war. Credit... Alexey Pavlishak/Reuters Reuters By Paul Sonne and Nataliya Vasilyeva Paul Sonne reported from Berlin. Published July 2, 2026 Updated July 3, 2026, 10:54 a.m. ET Ukraine is trying to turn Crimea into a new pressure point for the Kremlin, aiming to inflict so much pain on a region especially dear to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia that he will agree to end the war. Crimea has long been a flashpoint between the two countries, even before Russia captured the region — a peninsula jutting into the Black Sea — and annexed it in 2014. Since the days of Catherine the Great, Crimea has functioned as a Russian military stronghold and a place for faraway Moscow to project its power into the Bl...