What Crimea is best remembered for in the West is the Crimean War of the 1850s.
And that is the problem, by the West I suppose you mean the US in this case. Crimea was the scene of one of the most deadly battles of WWII and in Russia today that battle is certainly better remembered than the war in 1850. Russia is a great power today, like it or not, and no great power will give up their only warm water port for its' fleet. That is how they operate and always have.
What Crimea is best remembered for in the West is the Crimean War of the 1850s.
And that is the problem, by the West I suppose you mean the US in this case. Crimea was the scene of one of the most deadly battles of WWII and in Russia today that battle is certainly better remembered than the war in 1850. Russia is a great power today, like it or not, and no great power will give up their only warm water port for its' fleet. That is how they operate and always have.