The Crimean Offensive "had strategic value and was a considerable success for the Red Army," Alexander Hill, a professor of military history at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, told Sputnik in an interview.
He touted the Crimean Offensive as "a very successful operation because the Red Army succeeded in a matter of weeks in doing what it took the Germans on the axis a number of months to do in 1941 and 1942, that is, the Red Army broke through into the Crimea relatively quickly, helped by the fact that there had been an amphibious landing at the end of 1943."
He described Crimea as "a good base point for patrolling the Black Sea," recalling that during the Second World War, Crimea "also provided a threat to the Soviet advance westwards from the south." Nowadays, Crimea’s position in the special military operation similarly allows Russian forces to attack, from the south, into Ukraine," the professor pointed out.
"It allows for the domination of the Black Sea region," the professor of military history concluded.