The devastating human, economic costs of Crimea’s annexation

People in the Peninsula say they are subject to poor social services, dirty water and spiralling prices.

Larisa Vasilyeva claims Crimea’s annexation killed her brother. But Igor Vasilyev did not die during the Black Sea peninsula’s 2014 takeover from Ukraine. At 67, he was also too old to fight for pro-Russian separatists in southeastern Ukraine who were so inspired by Crimea’s “return to the homeland” that they took up arms against the central government.