15 July 2025
WEEKLY UPDATE ON THE SITUATION IN OCCUPIED CRIMEA ON JULY 15, 2025
Main news of the week
▶ Political prisoner Andrii Kolomiets has returned to Ukraine after more than 10 years of unlawful imprisonment by the Russian regime. He participated in the Revolution of Dignity and, in 2015, became a victim of politically motivated persecution by the Russian administration. He was detained in Kabardino-Balkaria (Russian Federation) under false charges of drug possession. Andrii was subjected to repeated torture. Following his arrest, he was unlawfully transferred to temporarily occupied Crimea, where the FSB brought even more absurd charges against him — an alleged attempt to murder two former members of the Crimean Berkut special police unit.
Crimes committed by the Russian Federation
▶ As of July 2025, Russia has illegally imprisoned 220 people in occupied Crimea on ethnic, religious, and political grounds, including 133 Crimean Tatars.
▶ Crimean political prisoner Appaz Kurtamet was arbitrarily held in a punishment cell at a Russian penal colony in the Pskov region for ten days, from 18 to 28 June. He was kept in solitary confinement on a bare floor, provided with poor-quality food, and only received a mattress at night. The only relief was the ability to read books. There was no justification for this punishment: in Russia’s penitentiary system, so-called “routine isolation” is often used without any reason or legal basis, representing yet another violation of human rights.
▶ The health of Crimean political prisoner Rustem Seitmemetov is deteriorating in Russian custody. Following a myocardial infarction and heart bypass surgery, he continues to experience pain and suffers from high blood pressure. He has been diagnosed with cataracts, assigned a Group III disability status, is experiencing worsening dental issues, and is suffering from severe skin irritation across his body.
▶ The occupation “court” in Crimea unlawfully fined the independent Muslim religious community Eski Qırım 400,000 rubles for allegedly distributing extremist materials. Lawyer Nazim Sheikhmambetov highlighted multiple violations during the investigative actions. This is already the second such ruling against Eski Qırım: the community was also fined in March 2024.
▶ Political prisoner Tymur Yalkabov has been transferred to harsh detention conditions in Colony No. 17 in Murmansk. Despite having asthma and a Group III disability, he is not receiving adequate medical care.
▶ The occupation “court” extended the unlawful detention of five individuals involved in the so-called “third Dzhankoi case” until October 13. Four — Ali Mamutov, Nariman Ametov, Vokhid Mustafaiev, and Enver Khalilaiev — will remain in custody, while Remzi Kurtnazirovwill continue under house arrest.
▶ Political prisoner Arsen Abkhairov, a member of the so-called “Krasnohvardiiske group,” was unlawfully transferred from Penal Colony No. 3 in Novocheboksarsk, Russia, to Colony No. 9 in Tsivilsk — over 2,000 kilometers from Crimea.
▶ The health of Crimean political prisoner Rustem Huhuryk continues to deteriorate. He is experiencing hearing loss in both ears, kidney problems, shortness of breath, and a persistent cold, yet he is receiving no medical assistance. His wife has had no contact with him for over four years.
▶ Crimean political prisoner Serhii Tsyhypa has reportedly been on hunger strike for nearly a month in a Russian penal colony. According to his wife, the protest was prompted by the administration’s refusal to deliver essential medication, despite proper procedural compliance. Contact with Tsyhypa was lost at the end of June, raising concerns that he may have been placed back in punitive isolation.
▶ Citizen journalist and Crimean political prisoner Ruslan Suleimanov was added to the colony’s “preventive registry” by the Russian prison administration, despite having committed no violations.
▶ 55-year-old Crimean Tatar political prisoner Shaban Umerov reported worsening health issues, including high blood pressure and urgent dental needs, particularly prosthetics. Despite his clean disciplinary record, the colony administration placed him on the preventive registry.
The use of occupied Crimea as a springboard for attacks on Ukraine and the militarization of the peninsula
▶ Activists from the resistance movement ATESH reported continued monitoring of Russian naval remnants in the Striletska Bay of temporarily occupied Sevastopol. According to their information, the bay is now nearly empty. The few remaining warships in Sevastopol are being periodically relocated by the occupying forces in an attempt to conceal them. The activists also reported a sabotage incident near the village of Uvarove in the Kerch district of occupied Crimea — a relay cabinet was destroyed on a railway segment that runs across the Kerch Bridge.
▶ Monitoring channels reported the detection of a Russian Kasta-2E2 radar station near the village of Kurortne in the Feodosiia district. The radar is designed to detect low-flying targets, including drones, and can track up to 50 objects simultaneously. The estimated cost of the system exceeds $60 million USD.
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 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 resident of Sevastopol was detained by Russian occupation forces for posting critical comments about the Russian army and regime on social media. She was charged with alleged “incitement of hatred,” “discrediting the Russian Armed Forces,” and “public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the Russian military.” The woman faces up to 10 years in prison.
▶ In the city of Saky, a man was detained by Russian forces for listening to music in Ukrainian. He was issued an administrative protocol and subjected to a so-called “preventive conversation.”
▶ A resident of the occupied village of Skvortsove in the Simferopol district posted an image on social media featuring Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar flags with the caption “Crimea is Ukraine. And no one will stop it.” Russian forces detained the woman, accused her of “discrediting the Russian army,” and illegally fined her 50,000 rubles.
▶ Activists from the Yellow Ribbon resistance movement have spread numerous ribbons, stickers, and slogans with pro-Ukrainian messages in the temporarily occupied cities of Simferopol, Sevastopol, Yalta, Bakhchysarai, and Koktebel.
▶ The Crimean Combat Seagulls resistance group continues to expose personal data of collaborators and Russian war criminals in occupied Crimea.
▶ The resistance movement Zla Mavka continues to publish their diaries, documenting daily life under occupation.
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.