[silverleaf]

There was a referendum with a 93% vote to (re) join Russia.
Kiev treated Crimea very badly …cut off water for crop irrigation, and cutoff electric power…restored by and from Russia
Life has been much better under Russia.
Kiev has not been a benevolent master.

[Dr. Franklin]

There was a referendum with a 93% vote to (re) join Russia.

Putin's referendum to annex Crimea was as convincing as Stalin's referendum's to annex Western Ukraine and Western Belarus from Poland in WWII. No reasonable person would accept any of that as legitimate.

[Greetings_Puny_Humans]

There was a referendum with a 93% vote to (re) join Russia.

They also had 124% voter turnout in Sevestopol despite observers noting no one was out voting, other than Russian soldiers, Russian journalists, and there was a single lone Crimean Tatar who was protesting who got dragged away and was found later with a knife through his eye socket and into his brain, with other signs of torture.

I don't think you want to build a "this vote was completely legitimate!" argument based on such a foundation.