Down the road who really knows if or not Crimea is better off...I suspect Putin will invest there for obvious reasons. With the Military presence build it up as tourist and business arena.....apparently as it once was Historically. I understand many Russian officials etc. went there for vacation etc.
I do think it will be better off then Ukraine whose economic recovery is not going to be any easy feat by any means...even with the support of the Eu Billions are not going to be quickly distributed until the elections and a new Government is stable in itself..... so it'll be hard on Ukranians for a while.
FYI:
Ukraines acting foreign minister, at The Hague.... has met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. ....It is the first such encounter since the controversial annexation of Crimea. ....President Vladimir Putin agreed to the informal meeting
I’m hearing some sources say that Russia’s resources now are stressed. Russia, having taken Crimea from Ukraine, now has to take care of it. And Crimea has a lot of bums, even if they are Russian bums.
Could be that Russia won the booby prize, and the best thing the world could do right now is just sit and watch.