@Europe Says The Crimean military and administration sided with Russia, the annexation was swift and nearly bloodless, the referendum overwhelmingly in favor, I'm not sure what else was there to claim that Crimea wasn't de facto Russian, and this long before 2014. The current ongoing conflict is entirely Russia's fault, but the refusal to transfer back Crimea to Russia seems to have been an Ukrainian fault given the seamless annexation that couldn't have happened without a large support from Crimeans themselves.

This is a lost cause and fighting for it isn't worth it, as even the Crimeans do not want to be Ukrainians.