Sorry, but I don’t think this is comparable. Crimea was part of Russia until the 50s, when they, for some reason, transferred it to the Ukraine. Right or not, it was probably going to revert back to Russia.
You have a point there, and I am uneasy about the probable affiliations of any radical militants among the Crimean Tatars. They would link up very fast with Saudi Arabia and the other al-Qaida backers.
Afghanistan used to be a Russian problem, but now is an American problem. Who wants the same recipe in Crimea?
They did it as a meaningless gesture.