“Russians did not expect the vulnerability of Crimea to be the main point of discussion 4½ years into the full-scale invasion.”
Insights by Linas Kojala, Director of the Geopolitics and Security Studies Center, are cited in a Wall Street Journal article by Yaroslav Trofimov and Thomas Grove on how Ukrainian strikes are changing Crimea’s strategic significance for Russia.
Commenting on the situation, Kojala notes that Crimea, long regarded as one of Vladimir Putin’s most important symbolic achievements, is becoming a growing vulnerability for Russia.