17 July 2026

Ervin Ibragimov 41st Birthday and 10 Years Missing

Today, Ervin Ibragimov would have celebrated his 41st birthday. A Crimean Tatar human rights defender, public figure, and member of the Executive Committee of the World Congress of Crimean Tatars, he consistently advocated for the rights of his people and Ukraine.

With a clear pro-Ukrainian stance, he joined the Euromaidan protests and subsequently participated in the rally against the occupation of Crimea on February 26, 2014. Following the Russian seizure of the peninsula, he refused any cooperation with the occupying authorities. Around that time in Bakhchysarai, he became an assistant to the Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, Ilmi Umerov, and supported political prisoners, standing by them during court hearings and searches.

On the evening of May 24, 2016, he was abducted by Russian security forces in Bakhchysarai. Ervin’s car was later found abandoned on the street. Surveillance cameras captured the moment of the abduction: two men, one wearing the uniform of the so-called “law enforcement agencies,” forcibly dragged him out of his car, shoved him into a minibus, and drove off in an unknown direction.

The Russian-controlled “Investigative Committee” initiated criminal proceedings regarding the abduction; however, it yielded no results. Neither Ervin’s whereabouts nor the individuals involved in the crime have been established. In 2017, the investigation was suspended, with officials citing the “impossibility of identifying the perpetrators.”

For ten years now, Ervin Ibragimov has remained missing. In March 2026, his mother passed away under occupation, without ever receiving any news about her son.