Putin and the Russians don't need a map. They know what they want and how to achieve it. The key to Crimea is that it is where the main body of the Black Sea Fleet is stationed. For decades, foreign powers have tried to eliminate the Black Sea Fleet. Crimea is where the British and French fought the Russians in the Crimean war from 1853 to 1856.

For years, the Ukrainian government have threatened to cancel the lease at Sevastopol and have the Black Sea Fleet evicted unless they got more money. The threat is to offer it to the West as a NATO naval base.

When the Ukrainian government was overthrown in 2014, the new government made a mistake of announcing that Russian military forces would have to leave Crimea. The Russians have always had an elite force of around 20,000 soldiers including the Black Sea Fleet in Crimea. It was likely these soldiers who suddenly and quickly seized power in Crimea in a well planned exercise.