Inside Crimea: A Jewel in Two Crowns
Crimea has been a flashpoint between Russia and Ukraine for decades. Here's why.
In 2011, National Geographic magazine visited Crimea for an in-depth look. Many of the issues we covered then are now in sharp relief as tensions rise between ethnic Russians and Ukrainians.
The past is never past in Sevastopol. It waves from flagpoles and drapes the parade stand on patriotic holidays. It finds sanctuary in war monuments and is posted on signs: Lenin Square, Heroes of Stalingrad Street, Cinema Moscow. It even simmers in a pot of borscht.
Take Galina Onischenko's version of the eastern European staple. "This is Russian borscht," she said, setting down a porcelain bowl of "green" or summer borscht with its dill-flecked mosaic of beets, carrots, and potatoes. "No lard with garlic like they put in
