> Russia actually changed Crimea’s time, effectively moving the territory’s time two hours forward to Moscow Time. The peninsula of Crimea is completely unattached to Russia and the decision has no real geographical basis
I am most definitely not defending Russia's actions, but Crimea is nearly due south from Moscow.
That is true, but also Moscow is not on its "own" geographical time zone. The middle line of UTC+3 is 45°E, east of Nizhniy Novgorod or eastern Caucasus.
Crimea (Sevastopol) is about 33.5°E. Naturally, this time zone change is part of the process employed by Russia to severe Crimea from Ukraine and attach it back to Russia.
St. Petersburg, or Leningrad as it seems to be going, is also on the same UTC+3 zone even though it is even further away to the west, with the "geographical" UTC+2 line (30°E) passing through the city.
I am most definitely not defending Russia's actions, but Crimea is nearly due south from Moscow.
[1]: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Crimea/@50,34,5z