Generate an appropriate single-sentence summary for the given text such that it includes the main topic of the text.

In early 2014 Crimea became the focus of the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War, after Ukraine's pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych was driven from power by violent protests in Kiev. Kremlin-backed forces seized control of the Crimean peninsula, and the territory, which has a Russian-speaking majority, voted to join Russia in a referendum that Ukraine and the West deem illegal. Crimea was annexed by the Russian Empire during the reign of Catherine The Great in 1783 and remained part of Russia until 1954, when it was transferred to Ukraine under the then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. Ethnic Russians make up the majority of the population, but with significant Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar minorities. Under Greek and Roman influence for centuries, in 1443 Crimea became the centre of a Tatar Khanate, which later fell under Ottoman control. Rival imperial ambitions in the mid 19th century led to the Crimean War when Britain and France, suspicious of Russian ambitions in the Balkans as the Ottoman Empire declined, sent troops. Given autonomous republic status within Russia after the Bolshevik revolution, Crimea was occupied by the Nazis in the early 1940s. Tatar deportation Stalin accused the Tatars of collaborating with the German occupiers and deported them en masse to Central Asia and Siberia in 1944. Many did not survive. Only as the Soviet Union collapsed were they allowed to return. By the time over a quarter of a million did so in the early 1990s, it was to an independent Ukraine where they faced very high unemployment and extremely poor housing conditions. There were persistent tensions and protests over land rights, and allocation of land to Crimean Tatars was a contentious issue. After Ukrainian independence, political figures from the local Russian community sought to assert sovereignty and strengthen ties with Russia through a series of moves declared unconstitutional by the Ukrainian government. The 1996 Ukrainian constitution stipulated that Crimea would have autonomous republic status, but insisted that Crimean legislation must be in keeping with that of Ukraine. Crimea has its own parliament and government with powers over agriculture, public infrastructure and tourism. The Crimean Tatars have their own unofficial parliament, the Mejlis, which states its purpose as being to promote the rights and interests of the Crimean Tatars. Ukraine-Russia tension The port of Sevastopol is a major naval base and has been home to the Black Sea Fleet since 1783. Following the collapse of the USSR, the fleet was divided up between Russia and Ukraine. The continuing presence of the Russian fleet in Sevastopol has been a focus of tension between Russia and Ukraine. In 2008, Ukraine - then under the pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko - demanded that Moscow not use the Black Sea Fleet during the its conflict with Georgia. Both countries had agreed to allow the Russian fleet to stay until 2017, but after the election of the pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovych as president in 2010, Ukraine agreed to extend the lease by 25 years beyond 2017, in return for cheaper Russian gas.
The Republic of Crimea, officially part of Ukraine, lies on a peninsula stretching out from the south of Ukraine between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. It is separated from Russia to the east by the narrow Kerch Strait.

Martock Parish Council has used Atlas UK Security Services since April in a bid to combat "threats of violence, late night noise and loud music". Police had previously said the issues did not warrant extra force resources. Council chairman Neil Bloomfield said the extra patrols are continuing after having a positive effect. Mr Bloomfield said police figures from April showed there were 50% more calls over anti-social problems compared to the year before, prompting councillors to take action. Avon and Somerset police said they needed to target resources amid rising demand and falling officer numbers. Insp Tim Coombe said they had been consulted by councillors but there was already a "proportionate policing plan" in place. He added: "We haven't supported the wider use of security guards in Martock as we didn't feel the level of anti-social behaviour in the village warranted this." Body cameras Since April, the council has paid Atlas UK about £1,000 for two nightly patrols over four nights a week. The security firm's staff wear body cameras to deter anti-social behaviour and their patrols do not overlap with police beats. Mr Bloomfield, who is also a former police officer, claimed the patrols "had reduced anti-social behaviour" but people had questioned why they were paying twice - for police and a private firm. Daniel Goodwin from the security firm said he did not have concrete evidence but "the amount of people gathering has significantly dropped from when we first started conducting the patrols".
A parish council in Somerset has said employing private security to tackle anti-social behaviour has made "a marked difference".

By Laura McAllisterProfessor of Public Policy, Cardiff University It's been a low-key campaign which has scarcely dazzled, yet the results on Friday feel more significant than ever. The Members of the Senedd - or MSs - elected will serve in a proper parliament with law-making and tax setting powers. Added excitement comes from the very tight margins that will decide at least a quarter of the constituency seats and several regional list seats. Small shifts in votes could determine the distribution of seats to parties and therefore the shape of our next Welsh government. The Covid election So, the final results are unpredictable, dependent as they are on several important unknowns. First, this is a Covid election - both practically and policy wise. We are edging out of lockdown, but with gargantuan recovery problems ahead. Most of us had imagined a dramatically different political landscape for Senedd 2021, framed by post-Brexit adaptation not a pandemic. Wales' 'dirty little secret' Then there's turnout: I called devolution Wales' 'dirty little secret' as no election has generated a turnout of above 50%, impacting on Senedd credibility and legitimacy. It should be higher this time, but who knows as we ease out of lockdown restrictions. It's also less about the raw percentage figure and more about who actually goes out to vote that matters - this time more than ever, with such small margins deciding many seats. Whilst the overall votes are likely to be split relatively evenly between the three big parties, Wales's semi-hybrid - and increasingly dysfunctional - electoral system benefits the largest party whilst offering opportunities for the smaller parties on the regional list. Any chance of a majority government? Attention will be on whether Welsh Labour can win an overall majority (and no party's ever achieved this) or has to govern alongside Plaid Cymru, with or without a formal coalition. What about the other 'c's - credibility and the constitution? The BBC Leaders' Debate last week was not a dial shifter, but it did expose parties on the campaigning front and back foot. Voters will also have been able to judge the credibility of the main contenders for first minister. Welsh Labour's campaigning has been all about packing its defence and playing up its sure footed Covid handling. The party's had least need to adapt, keeping the push on its track record of delivery, competence and trust. Labour has been in power for all of devolution's 22 years and the most (small 'c') conservative and successful political party in Wales (there's a lesson there) is running on a platform of carrying on with what it's doing. It has been helped by the fact that Mark Drakeford has become an electoral asset, newly recognised and mostly popular, an avuncular "safe pair of hands". Amongst the Welsh-identifying, centre-left part of the electorate, Covid handling is not a particularly promising route to criticise the Labour government. How are the challengers looking? Bluntly, this impacts Plaid Cymru most. Plaid's intention to make the case for the removal of Mark Drakeford was wrecked by Covid. Voters appear ensconced in national identity "tribes" with limited crossover between them. Welsh Labour and Plaid currently share the same tribal identity - but Labour is clearly dominant. Plaid's planned presidential campaign had its charismatic leader, Adam Price front and centre but its hopes of replacing Welsh Labour à la SNP were shattered by the way Welsh public opinion realigned over Covid. 'Small margins' It's fair to say that Welsh Labour has ridden its luck in Senedd elections, not least in 2016 when it clung on to many seats in what became known as the 'Red Wall' - often by very small margins, a good way of describing this is as a very efficient votes to seats won ratio! This time, seats like Llanelli, Wrexham, Brecon and Radnorshire, Gower, Delyn, Rhondda, Vale of Clwyd, Caerphilly and Vale of Glamorgan are all interesting for different reasons. Still, due to the inbuilt compensatory mechanism of our electoral system, Labour would have to lose several constituency seats in the south, including some in the valleys to Plaid, not to be the largest party on 7 May. The problem for the Tories is that it's not as straightforward as getting out the half a million Welsh voters who supported them in 2019. That was a UK election, all about getting Brexit done - and "done" it is in most people's minds. We know that many in the 'Red Wall' were not necessarily natural Tories and there's long been plenty of voter mobility in Wales. Andrew RT Davies' populist style might well capture some of UKIP's sizeable vote last time around, but that might be too dispersed to help the Welsh Conservatives win many of their targets. Before recent events at Downing Street, the Welsh Conservatives were in bullish mood. They will still likely make some seat gains but what currency will these have given Davies has effectively ruled out all feasible routes to governing? Still, winning some of its plausible Labour-held targets would probably seal the results day narrative and surely be noticed at UK level given the potential implications for both Johnson and Starmer. Any realistic coalitions? Despite plenty of interest in the topic from media far and wide, this is not an independence election. Nevertheless, strong support for independence amongst young voters - especially with 16- and 17-year-olds now on the electoral roll - and amongst Labour supporters might prove critical if a mandate for Indy Ref 2 is delivered in Scotland. If Plaid plays the long game, this could prove significant. Adam Price ruled out most realistic coalitions early doors, but his party's best hope now is for a last-minute surge in support in a couple of key constituencies, along with picking up a couple of extra regional list seats. If Labour doesn't manage to ride its luck twice - and its 2016 results represent a high bar after all- this would mean some fascinating negotiations over the shape of our next government.

These Senedd elections are not the ones we anticipated and there's a strange contradictory feel to them.

