13 May 2025
WEEKLY UPDATE ON THE SITUATION IN OCCUPIED CRIMEA ON MAY 13, 2025
Main news of the week
▶ On 6 May 2025, the occupation administration in Crimea illegally detained 24-year-old Hatidzhe Buiukhchan, a resident of Staryi Krym. She went missing after a trip to Simferopol, and only the next day it became known that she was being held by Russian security forces. No information has been released regarding the reasons for her detention, her whereabouts, or her legal status.
Crimes committed by the Russian Federation
▶ As of May 2025, Russia has illegally imprisoned 223 people in occupied Crimea on ethnic, religious, and political grounds, including 133 Crimean Tatars.
▶ Crimean political prisoner Hennadii Lymeshko, who has already served an eight-year sentence in a Russian detention center in Stavropol on fabricated charges, now faces new criminal prosecution under charges of “extremism.” After completing his sentence, he was transferred to a temporary detention center for foreigners in the Rostov region. Despite the end of his sentence, Lymeshko has not yet returned to Ukraine.
▶ The Russian occupation administration in Crimea is planning to deport Crimean Tatar political prisoner Nasrulla Seidaliiev to Uzbekistan, where he faces the risk of torture, repeated persecution, and fabricated charges. Such actions violate the principle of non-refoulement, enshrined in the UN Convention Against Torture.
▶ Crimean activist Ihor Nikitenko, who is visually impaired and classified as Group 1 disability, has been unable to recover property confiscated during an illegal search by Russian occupiers in October 2024. For over half a year, the occupation administration has ignored the appeals of his lawyer, highlighting the complete absence of legal protection mechanisms in Crimea. This case represents a serious violation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the right to property.
The use of occupied Crimea as a springboard for attacks on Ukraine and the militarization of the peninsula
▶ According to the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Russian occupiers carried out a series of attacks across Ukrainian territory over the past week. In total, 403 strike UAVs, including Shahed, Shahed-Heran, and Gerbera types, were launched, including from the territory of occupied Crimea and the Black Sea waters.
Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion and spread its armed aggression throughout Ukraine, occupied Crimea has been used by Russia as a military base for spreading aggression in various forms. From the peninsula, the occupiers continue to launch attacks on the territory of Ukraine, including on civilian infrastructure.
The resistance movement of Ukrainian citizens in occupied Crimea
▶ Russia has already prosecuted 1350 people in occupied Crimea for expressing solidarity with Ukraine, who are being subjected to administrative penalties in the form of illegal fines and arrests.
▶ A 52-year-old resident of occupied Crimea was detained by Russian occupation forces for posting pro-Ukrainian comments on social media and allegedly calling for the destruction of the so-called “Crimean Bridge.” He has been illegally charged with “public incitement to commit terrorist activity” and faces up to seven years in prison.
▶ A 30-year-old employee of a state-owned transportation company was detained for posting comments in support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in a pro-Ukrainian chat on social media. She was illegally fined 45,000 rubles by the Russian occupation administration.
▶ In temporarily occupied Simferopol, a local resident was detained for sharing Ukrainian symbols, expressing support for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and criticizing the Russian invasion army on social media. The occupiers fined him 50,000 rubles.
▶ Ahead of Russia’s so-called “Victory Day,” Yellow Ribbon movement activists actively removed propaganda materials and spread graffiti reminding that Putin is the modern-day Hitler. They also distributed patriotic leaflets in occupied Simferopol and Yevpatoriia.
▶ Activists from the Crimean Combat Seagulls continue to expose the personal data of collaborators and Russian war criminals in occupied Crimea.
▶ The Zla Mavka resistance movement continues to publish its diaries, sharing insights into daily life under occupation. Activists also distributed over 150 patriotic stickers in occupied Simferopol.
▶ On the eve of events planned by the occupiers for their so-called “Victory Day,” the Ukrainian hacker resistance group Cyber ATESH disabled Kassa24.ru, the main ticketing platform in temporarily occupied Crimea, which had been used to promote propagandist cultural events. In addition, the group announced that it had hacked the personal phone of a commander from a unit of the 12th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment of the 31st Air Defense Division of the Russian Armed Forces, stationed in occupied Sevastopol. According to the hackers, the device contained both official military information and compromising personal materials, including messages with minors and explicit videos involving the serviceman in Russian military uniform. The revelation has sparked outrage and highlights the moral degradation among members of the occupying military contingent. The activists also reported a successful cyberattack on polkrf.ru, the main platform of Russia’s “Immortal Regiment” movement, which they say is used by the Kremlin to spread propaganda under the guise of honoring WWII heroes. Two more pro-Russian propaganda websites in occupied Crimea were also targeted — crimea.mk.ru and krym.top24.news. The first is the regional branch of the Kremlin-loyal outlet Moskovsky Komsomolets, known for spreading disinformation about alleged stability and heroism in the Russian army. The second is part of a pseudo-independent network that creates the illusion of peaceful life amid repression and military aggression.
The full-scale invasion was marked by a rapid increase in solidarity and resistance actions by residents of occupied Crimea against the Russian occupiers. Residents of occupied territories unite in resistance movements, such as the above-mentioned Yellow Ribbon, Crimean Combat Seagulls, Zla Mavka, and ATESH, or act individually. To suppress the resistance movement of residents in 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.”
De-occupation of Crimea is integral to ending the war and restoring peace. Ukrainians are doing everything they can to stop the aggressor and protect the entire world from Russia’s criminal actions. This is not a local or regional issue but a threat to the world and international order.