Ukraine got Crimea because Khrushchev needed their support after he’d been Stalin’s henchman there.
Crimean history goes back further than that and is more complex. One need not be a fan of Ukraine’s government to have an alternative point of view to the post-Soviet Russian one touted by Putin and ilk.
And for all the physical infrastructure and influx of mainland Russians that have moved in to cement the annexation, the spiritual and moral infrastructure is in tatters. A lot of Christians (Greek Catholics, Catholic nuns, Ukrainian Orthodox) and Crimean Tatars who have deep, ancestral ties have had to flee persecution and the onslaught of corruptions fostered by the Moscow Patriarchate wing of Russian Orthodox Church.
The newly built infrastructure comes with strings attached: namely the Kremlin’s authoritarian dictates and assaults on free speech, business ownership, education, and even freedom of movement. (Ukrainian citizenship and visa status offers more mobility for travel and work in surrounding European countries.)
Crimean Russians were singing Soviet anthems and waving Stalin portraits in the days following the annexation and still do. This was about Soviet nostalgia, not genuine Russian brotherhood. In his justification speech, Putin practically recited parts of Hitler’s Sudetanland anschluss speech verbatim.
The timing, spirit, and way it was done is what has upset peoppe most, including Ukrainians who formerly identified more closely with Russia.
As messy as Kiev’s government is, Crimeans had more freedom under Ukraine than Russia. But for many Russians, the ache for Soviet power outweighs the hunger for freedom.
Regarding improvement of Crimean infrastructure — Stalin also implemented grand infrastructure projects, yet average Russian towns which serve no immediate imperialist or geopolitical interest wallow in 3rd world conditions - despite their sizable populations. Same rule applies today.
Take roads for example. Nationally, Russia’s has roads worse than that of some African countries. (Or none where there can and should be.)
You can bet most of the pipeline money via its deals with Germany ends up in the pockets of Putin’s crony oligarchs personal bank accounts...not on genuine pursuits of infrastructure.
And while the World Cup has been “distracting” Russians these past few weeks, the Kremlin has instituted all sorts of new draconian measures to further consolidate their power.
However it is sweet that in the town of Samara, citizens took the order to take less showers or to shower in pairs so that foreign soccer fans will have enough running water to spare.