Monthly update about the situation in occupied Crimea for April 2024
Main news of the month
▶ On April 17, 2024, as a result of a successful operation by the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the Russian military airfield in Dzhankoi in the temporarily occupied Crimea, four S-400 air defense systems, three radar stations, an air defense control center and airspace monitoring equipment Fundament-M were destroyed.
▶ On April 21, in occupied Sevastopol, the Ukrainian Defense Forces damaged the Russian ship Kommuna, which was used to support submarines of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
▶ In the occupied peninsula, the 19th illegal conscription campaign into the Russian army has started, which is a violation of international law and a war crime.
▶ In Crimea, the Russian occupiers illegally sent the imprisoned Crimean Tatar Diliaver Salimov to a penal colony. The Russians persecuted the man because he refused to record a video with “apologies” for anti-war statements. The occupation “court” also illegally sentenced a 31-year-old member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Maksym Zinchenko, from occupied Feodosiia to two years of forced labor for attending a church service.
▶ Illegally imprisoned political prisoner Refat Alimov was released after serving 8 years in prison for a fabricated case.
▶ On April 27, Nariman Dzhelial, First Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, celebrated his birthday for the third time in Russian captivity. Russia has illegally imprisoned a Crimean Tatar, journalist, human rights activist, and teacher for 17 years for participating in the Inaugural Summit of the Crimea Platform in 2021.
Crimes committed by the Russian Federation in occupied Crimea
▶ As of April 30, the Russians have illegally imprisoned 218 Ukrainian citizens in occupied Crimea on ethnic, religious, and political grounds, including 133 Crimean Tatars.
▶ The occupiers have extended the illegal detention of activists from Bakhchysarai. Seidamet Mustafaiev, Remzi Nemetullaiev, Abdulmedzhit Seitumerov, Ametkhan Umerov, Ruslan Asanov and Eldar Yakubov will remain in Russian custody until July 22, 2024; Activists and religious figures from Dzhankoi and Dzhankoi district — Enver Khalilaiev, Nariman Ametov, Ali Mamutov, activist Arsen Kashka, and mosque imam Vakhid Mustafaiev, will remain in the custody of the occupiers until August 3. The Russian occupiers also rejected the appeal against the arrest of the illegally detained Leniie Umerova, who was illegally detained by the Russians in 2022 for not having a Russian passport. The illegal detention of the girl was prolonged till August 4, 2024.
▶ The health of political prisoner Amet Suleimanov is deteriorating in a Russian prison. The Crimean Tatar activist and journalist of Crimean Solidarity was arrested by the Russians in March 2020 and later sentenced to 12 years in prison for exposing the criminal actions of Russians against Crimean Tatars in occupied Crimea. The man suffers from arterial and mitral heart failure.
▶ The occupation “court” unjustifiably and illegally fined the human rights activist and journalist Lutfiie Zudiieva 2 thousand Russian rubles for reporting on the criminal actions of the Russian occupiers against Ukrainian citizens under occupation. In addition, the occupiers are persecuting Crimean human rights activist Abdureshyt Dzhepparov and Crimean lawyer Emil Kurbedinov, who help Crimean political prisoners persecuted and oppressed by the Russian occupiers in Crimea.
▶ On April 8, in occupied Simferopol, Russians dismantled the dome of the Cathedral of the Holy and Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Volodymyr and Princess Olga. Russians systematically persecute religious leaders of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in the occupied peninsula.
Illegal mobilization and violations of the Geneva Conventions, the laws and customs of war
▶ The Russians are trying to sentence a resident of the occupied Crimea, a citizen of Ukraine, Denys Narolskyi, to life imprisonment. They tried to force the man to fight in the Russian army against his own country, Ukraine, but he fled home and was oppressed by the occupiers.
▶ According to the resistance movements, during the celebration of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, the occupiers in the Simferopol district illegally handed out conscription orders to the Russian army. Earlier, the Russian invaders announced an increase in the number of Russian troops by 300,000 people.
▶ The Russians are trying to force doctors and medical staff in civilian hospitals throughout the occupied Crimea to sign a contract with the Russian army. They are offered a lot of money, but there are no takers. People are categorically against it. In addition, Crimean residents report a shortage of medical personnel, transport and equipment in Crimea, which has a significant negative impact on the standard of living of the occupied population.
The Russian occupiers, in violation of the international humanitarian law, laws, and customs of war, are illegally forcibly mobilizing the residents of the occupied Crimea in order to destroy the disloyal population of the occupation by illegally mobilizing them and later using them as “cannon fodder” at the front.
Using the territory of the occupied Crimea as a military base and a springboard for attacks on Ukraine
▶ According to the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in April 2024 the Russian occupiers launched at least 144 Shahed-131/136 UAVs, 12 cruise missiles, and 3 ballistic missiles from the occupied Crimea and the Black Sea at the territory of Ukraine. Civilian critical infrastructure facilities suffered the most damage. On April 11, the Russians destroyed the Trypillia thermal power plant. In total, at least 7 people, including 2 children, were killed and 42 injured in the Russian attacks from the territory of Crimea.
▶The Russians conducted illegal military drills of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and Russian military units at least 12 times in April, endangering the residents of the occupied territory.
▶ In occupied Sevastopol, Russian security forces organized an event for schoolchildren and students. Masked Russian soldiers told the children about the capabilities of drones and taught them how to launch them. They also encouraged them to join the occupation forces in the war against Ukraine.
Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion and spread its aggression throughout Ukraine, the occupied Crimea has been used by Russia as a military base to spread aggression in various forms. From the peninsula, the occupiers continue to attack the territory of Ukraine, including civilian infrastructure.
The resistance movement of Ukrainian citizens in occupied Crimea
▶️ In April, Russia illegally prosecuted at least 43 residents of occupied Crimea for expressing solidarity with Ukraine. People are receiving administrative punishments in the form of illegal fines and arrests.
▶ A resident of occupied Simferopol criticized the Russian occupiers in his social networks, supported the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and waited for the Ukrainian armed forces. The man was detained by the Russian security forces and faces unlawful criminal liability.
▶ In the Yalta district, the occupiers continued to persecute residents after the illegal “presidential elections in Russia”. Thus, in the village of Simeiz, the occupation “court” brought to justice a resident who wrote on the ballot that she was waiting for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.+-
▶ A resident of the occupied city of Sudak posted posts on her social media criticizing Russian troops and Putin. Russians illegally searched the woman’s home and detained her.
▶ In occupied Simferopol, a resident criticized the Russian occupiers and Putin on social media, posted Ukrainian symbols and Ukrainian songs, and spoke in support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The woman was illegally arrested for 5 days, fined 30 thousand rubles, and forced to apologize on camera.
▶ In the occupied city of Kerch, a resident criticized the occupying Russian army and administration on his social media. The occupiers detained the man, sent him to a temporary detention center, and then illegally found him guilty of so-called “discrediting the Russian army” and involvement in the LGBT community (Russians consider any involvement in the LGBT community or even the depiction of community symbols a crime and allegedly propaganda).
▶ A resident of the temporarily occupied city of Feodosiia “accused Russia of attacking peaceful Ukraine on her social media, calling the Russian army soldiers invaders. The woman was illegally detained and fined by the Russian occupiers.
▶ In the occupied Crimea, a man condemned the war on social media, called the Russian occupiers fascists, and supported Ukraine. For this, the Russian occupiers arrested him and forced him to apologize on camera.
▶ A resident of Yalta, who criticized Russia and condemned the war in his workplace, was detained, the materials were sent to the “court” and the man was forced to apologize on camera.
▶ Activists of the Yellow Ribbon resistance movement continue to protest, destroy occupation propaganda materials, and distribute patriotic materials in the occupied cities of the occupied Crimea. Thus, patriotic posters and yellow ribbons could be found in a dozen cities of the occupied Crimea. The activists also created a chatbot through which anyone can join the resistance movement, and receive leaflets, tasks, examples of graffiti, and safety recommendations.
▶ Activists of the Crimean Fighting Seagulls resistance movement reveal the personal information of collaborators and Russian war criminals in the occupied Crimea.
▶ The Zla Mavka women’s resistance movement in the occupied territories of Ukraine distributed patriotic stickers in occupied Simferopol reminding that Crimea is Ukraine and that the locals are not welcome to the occupiers. The activists also distributed a weekly newsletter, which revealed the crimes of the occupiers against Ukrainian citizens.
▶ Activists of the ATES movement conducted massive reconnaissance operations to record the location of oil depots and other important Russian military facilities in occupied Sevastopol and Kerch. ATESH activists also created a cyber unit to counter Russian propaganda online, attack the enemy’s information infrastructure, and collect information about the occupiers, traitors, and collaborators. The activists also distributed anti-war and pro-Ukrainian leaflets in occupied Simferopol.
The full-scale invasion was marked by a sharp increase in solidarity and resistance actions of the residents of the occupied Crimea against the Russian occupiers. The residents of the occupied territories unite in resistance movements, such as the aforementioned Yellow Ribbon, Crimean Fighting Seagulls, Zla Mavka, and ATESH, or act individually. In order to suppress the resistance movement of the residents of the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea after February 24, 2022, the occupiers actively began to prosecute and bring to administrative responsibility Ukrainian citizens under the article on the so-called “discrediting the Russian army”.
We urge the international community not to ignore Russian crimes against Ukrainian citizens in the occupied Crimea and to disseminate information about human rights violations in the occupation.