The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word CRIMEA
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
C
R
I
M
E
A
More clues leading to the result CRIMEA
- Unlawful act beginning to annexe part of Ukraine
- Atrocity west of a peninsula in old war
- Constant frost beginning to abate in peninsula
- Misdeed on a European peninsula
- Wrongdoing linked with a former war zone
- It’s an offence over a war zone
- Evil article on place of conflict
- America almost bombed disputed territory
- Something deplorable accepted in theatre of war
- Atrocity committed on a field of battle?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "part of Putin’s Russia" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case part of putin’s russia = crimea.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.