1954 transfer of Crimea Nikita Khrushchev was very fond of Ukraine, so I think to some degree it was also a personal gesture toward his favorite republic. He was ethnically Russian, but he really felt great affinity with Ukraine." Sergei Khrushchev, Khrushchev's son, claimed that the decision was due to the building of a hydro-electric dam on the Dnieper River and the consequent desire for all the administration to be under one body. Sevastopol in Crimea being the site of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet, a quintessential element of Russian and then of Soviet foreign policy, the transfer had the intended effect of binding
Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine Khmelnytskyi (, ; ) (until 1954, Proskuriv, ; ) is a city in western part of Ukraine, the administrative center for the Khmelnytskyi Oblast (region) and the Khmelnytskyi Raion (district). Khmelnytskyi is located in the historic region of Podolia on the banks of the Buh River. The city received its current local government designation in 1941. In 2015, the city's population was 267,973, making it the second largest city of the former, archaic Podolia region after Vinnytsia and the largest city of the western part of the region. The city foundation date is uncertain. The territory, where Khmelnytskyi