<P> The transfer was described by some of the Supreme Soviet as a gift to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Treaty of Pereyaslav in 1654 when the Cossack Rada apparently decided to unify with Muscovy, putting in place the eventual acquisition of Ukraine by Russia . Other reasons given were the integration of the economies of Ukraine and Crimea and the idea that Crimea was a natural extension of the Ukrainian steppes . </P> <P> There was also a desire to repopulate parts of the Crimea which had suffered large - scale expulsions of its native Tatars to Central Asia in 1944 . </P> <P> The transfer increased the ethnic Russian population of Ukraine by almost a million people . Prominent Russian politicians such as Alexander Rutskoy considered the transfer to be controversial . Controversies surrounding the legality of the transfer remained a sore point in relations between Ukraine and Russia for the first few years after the breakup of the Soviet Union, and in particular in the internal politics of the Crimea . However, in a 1997 treaty between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, Russia recognized Ukraine's borders, and accepted Ukraine's sovereignty over Crimea . </P> <P> In January 1992 the Supreme Soviet of Russia questioned the constitutionality of the transfer, accusing Nikita Khrushchev of treason against the Russian people and said that the transfer was illegitimate . Alexander Rutskoy, the former Vice President of Russia, said that this was a "harebrained scheme" for which Khrushchev was famous saying that those who signed the document must have been suffering from sunstroke or hangovers . </P>

Why did crimea become part of ukraine in 1954