07 February 2025
Two Years Ago, Crimean Political Prisoner Kostiantyn Shyrinh Died in a Russian Prison
On February 7, 2023, 61-year-old Crimean political prisoner Kostiantyn Shyrinh died in a Russian penal colony in the Orenburg region. The cause of death was the failure to provide him with necessary medical care.
Russian occupation forces arrested Kostiantyn Shyrinh in Crimea on April 15, 2020, accusing him of “espionage.” On October 15, 2021, an occupation “court” unlawfully sentenced him to 12 years in prison.
On June 1, 2022, it became known that Kostiantyn Shyrinh had been unlawfully transferred to a penal colony in Russia’s Orenburg region. He suffered from cardiovascular diseases and required heart surgery. Kostiantyn repeatedly appealed to the detention center administration for medical assistance, but the surgery was never performed. Instead, all his medications and blood pressure monitor were confiscated.
Kostiantyn Shyrinh died on February 7, 2023, in Penal Colony No. 5 in the city of Novotroitsk, Orenburg region, Russia. There is no evidence that the Russians attempted to investigate the political prisoner’s death.
It is important to note that this was the first recorded death of a Crimean political prisoner while serving a sentence in Russian detention. However, it was not the last—just three days later, on February 10, 2023, 60-year-old Crimean political prisoner Dzhemil Hafarov died in the Novocherkassk pre-trial detention center.
The systematic denial of medical assistance constitutes a serious violation of fundamental human rights and serves as a tool of pressure on detainees. Nearly all Crimean political prisoners face this reality. As of today, the Russian occupation administration unlawfully holds 218 individuals, including 132 representatives of the Crimean Tatar people, under fabricated charges such as terrorism, extremism, and high treason.
Among them are dozens of elderly individuals and those suffering from serious health conditions who are deprived of proper medical care. Unlawfully imprisoned detainees report deteriorating health, with some having had chronic illnesses before their imprisonment, while others developed serious conditions after their illegal arrest—particularly as a result of torture and psychological pressure. Their lives remain at grave risk.