A tour guide at a former nuclear submarine base in Balaklava describes a warhead.
Photographer: Misha Friedman for Bloomberg
The High Price of Putin’s Takeover of Crimea
Three years after annexation, some living on the peninsula say they struggle to get by under Russian rule.
Construction of an 11-mile bridge that will connect Russia’s Krasnodar region with the Crimean city of Kerch is in full swing. Scheduled to open next year, the road-rail link will span the Kerch Strait, which flows between the Sea of Azov to the north and the Black Sea to the south.
The bridge symbolizes the final step in Russia’s annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine in a bloodless coup three years ago. Though a major priority for President Vladimir Putin, this tangible connection to Crimea won’t necessarily cure its ills, say some residents. For now, they continue to live with the powerful sting of western sanctions, the economic fallout of being cut off from much of the world, and the high cost of living that flows from both.