Crimea is hugely sensitive and symbolic for both Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. His 2014 annexation of the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine pushed Putin’s popularity with Russians to unprecedented heights. He repeatedly declares Crimea an inseparable part of Russia, even as the international community rejects that.

With shocked holidaymakers seen on social media watching the explosions from a nearby beach, Putin now risks being regarded at home as incapable of protecting Russians from a war he started if it emerges Ukraine attacked the airfield.

Russia’s war against Ukraine “began with Crimea and must end with Crimea — with its liberation,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address to his nation. “We will never give it up.”