system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: What has come of the Russia/Crimea situation? Is the Crimean peninsula now part of Russia?

Most news outlets say that Russia has "annexed" the Crimean peninsula. Assuming that Russia now has control in the region, does that mean we will soon see the Crimean peninsula marked as Russian territory in future maps?
gpt
It's not over yet.

Russia now controls the Crimean Peninsula *de facto*, which means "in fact" (as opposed to *de jure*, which means "in law"). That basically means that the Russians are there taking over. Russia has also declared the Crimea to be a republic within the Russian Federation, and the city of Sevastopol to be a federal city. That would be the equivalent of, say, US forces occupying Newfoundland and declaring it to be the 51st state.

The question is, what about the other countries of the world? So far, apart from Russia, only Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Syria and Venezuela have recognised the legitimacy of Russian rule over Crimea. Belarus is sitting on the fence, saying that Crimea is *de jure* Ukranian but *de facto* Russian.

So at the moment, sovereignty of the Crimea is "disputed".