They did so loudly, with jubilance, all over Ukraine’s main TV channels in early December, even as some Crimea residents were forced to huddle around bonfires to keep warm.

While the economic blockade that began in late September forced Kyiv to finally sever trade ties with the occupied peninsula, it also gave the Kremlin the upper hand in the propaganda war – especially after the blackout on Nov. 21. If the Crimean Tatars’ intention was ever to “return their homeland,” as they claimed, they failed miserably.

After weeks of little to no electricity supplies, a visit to Simferopol revealed that residents had overwhelmingly turned towards Moscow, saying they’d prefer not to be used as fodder in a tiresome tug-of-war. Even those who voiced criticism of the Russian-backed authorities on the peninsula said they had lost all trust in Kyiv.

The most common response to a question about the blockade and Kyiv’s handling of the situation was, “Why does it matter? We don’t need Kyiv anymore anyway. Moscow will help us.”

Some asked why they should pay any attention to a government that has treated them like they were less than human.

For them, given a choice between authorities in Kyiv and those in Moscow, Putin became the lesser of two evils. And you know things are bad when Putin has become the sane choice.

As soon as the electricity blockade began, Putin and all things Russian became the only constant in residents’ lives.

Trolleybuses stopped running. Hotels and businesses operated in the dark. Fuel at gas stations became a luxury, and nothing was guaranteed.

Except, of course, for Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose grinning face dotted Simferopol’s main streets on massive billboards, some of which remained lit even despite the rationing of power supplies.

“Crimea. Russia. Forever,” said one billboard featuring the Russian president’s portrait. For some reason, this billboard had sprouted up repeatedly along numerous city blocks, as reliable and consistent as cracks in the sidewalk.

Shops in the city center offered patriotic portraits of Putin, Crimean leader Sergey Aksyonov and Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu.

All of these things had long been available in Simferopol; the billboards and portraits were nothing new.

But they gained power after the blackout, they sent the unsettling message that the Kremlin had won, even as the Crimean Tatar leaders behind the blockade declared victory.

It was hard not to see the billboards of Putin and think he was actually laughing with glee, that the grin on his face was one not of patriotic pride but gloating.

Sure, one resident said, Putin may not be the best leader, but he at least kept his word – he had sent generators to the peninsula to save the day. The Ukrainian authorities, on the other hand, spent months railing against numerous human rights abuses on the peninsula … only to commit their own human rights violation in response.