“The people in Crimea don’t even want want Ukraine running them. They identify with Russia.”
Yes and no. While Crimea has ties to Russia (including significant naval facilities) there is also a sizeable number of pro Ukrainians living there. I remember seeing some documentaries about Crimea several years ago and it was pretty surprising to see how many ordinary people there considered annexation to be a mistake.
You are right.
https://www.lse.ac.uk/research/research-for-the-world/society/were-crimeans-really-pro-russian-before-annexation