17 December 2024
WEEKLY UPDATE ON THE SITUATION IN OCCUPIED CRIMEA ON DECEMBER 17, 2024
Main news of the week
▶ Due to the negligence of Russian occupiers, two Russian tankers, Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239, sank near the Kerch Strait and the Crimean coastline. The vessels, which were transporting petroleum products, including fuel oil, began to sink after their hulls fractured amid high waves at sea. Experts warn that the sinking of these two Russian tankers in the Kerch Strait could lead to one of the largest environmental disasters in the Black Sea.
Crimes committed by the Russian Federation
▶ As of December 2024, Russia has illegally imprisoned 218 people in occupied Crimea on ethnic, religious, and political grounds, including 132 Crimean Tatars.
▶ Crimean political prisoner Ernest Ibrahimov has been unlawfully transferred to Russian correctional colony No. 5 in Novotroitsk, Orenburg region, over 2,000 kilometers from occupied Crimea. For a month, Ibrahimov was unable to communicate with his family.
▶ Olexander Sizikov, a visually impaired political prisoner with a Group I disability, was unlawfully relocated—or effectively deported—from occupied Crimea. The occupiers violated their own “laws,” which should prevent the serving of “sentences” for individuals with significant health issues.
▶ Oleh Fedorov, wrongfully convicted in the so-called “case of the Crimean Muslims,” has been illegally transferred to a Russian correctional facility in the Udmurt Republic, located over 2,500 kilometers from Crimea. Upon arrival, he was placed in harsh detention conditions. Fedorov previously reported a decline in his vision and rapid weight loss due to the dire conditions of his illegal imprisonment.
▶ Crimean political prisoner Vadym Bektemirov suffers from constant hypertensive crises while held in a Russian penal colony. His vision has deteriorated due to the severe detention conditions, yet he is denied any medical assistance. Bektemirov is also isolated from the outside world, with family visits prohibited. Recently, his family sent him a Quran, which was confiscated from the Crimean Tatar upon his arrival at the Russian penal colony.
▶ The occupation “court” unlawfully fined Bekir Mamutov, editor of the Crimean Tatar newspaper Qirim, on fabricated charges of “abusing the freedom of information.” This marks the third illegal case against Mamutov in 2024. This time, the basis for the administrative penalty was the publication of a biography of a Soviet-era human rights activist, which mentioned her work for Voice of America and Radio Liberty. The “trial” was conducted behind closed doors, without public observers.
The use of occupied Crimea as a springboard for attacks on Ukraine and the militarization of the peninsula
▶ According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russian occupiers conducted a series of attacks across Ukraine throughout the week, using three Iskander-M ballistic missiles and 24 Kalibr cruise missiles, launched from occupied Crimea and the Black Sea. These strikes targeted civilian energy infrastructure in several regions and a civilian facility in Zaporizhzhia, resulting in at least three fatalities.
▶ Activists of the ATESH resistance movement reported the transfer of Russian military equipment from occupied Crimea to the Zaporizhzhia region, with all information passed on to the relevant Ukrainian Armed Forces. The activists also revealed that Russian security forces in occupied Crimea are systematically repressing railway workers. In Simferopol, two Crimean Railway depot supervisors were detained, brutally beaten, and placed in a detention center. Additionally, activists conducted reconnaissance on Russian fortifications along the administrative border between the occupied parts of Kherson region and Crimea.
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion and extended its military aggression across Ukraine, occupied Crimea has been used as a military base to support various forms of aggression. From the peninsula, occupiers continue to launch strikes on Ukrainian territory, including civilian infrastructure.
The resistance movement of Ukrainian citizens in occupied Crimea
▶ Russia has already prosecuted 1093 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 Azovske village in the Dzhankoi district of occupied Crimea stated during a social media conversation that he was “waiting for the Ukrainian Armed Forces” and that “Crimea is under occupation.” Russian security forces unlawfully detained the man and referred his case to the occupation “court.”
▶ Activists from the Yellow Ribbon resistance movement conducted a large-scale action in occupied Crimea. Patriotic stickers, ribbons, and posters appeared throughout the Bitak Landscape and Recreation Park, at KrymEnergo facilities, near the White Rock, and in many areas of Simferopol. Additionally, patriotic symbols were placed in the streets of Yalta, Yevpatoriia, and Sevastopol, reminding residents that “Crimea is Ukraine” and that the people of Crimea are awaiting the arrival of Ukrainian Armed Forces.
▶ Activists of the Crimean Fighting Seagulls movement reported missile launches from occupied Crimea targeting Ukrainian civilian cities. This once again confirms that Russian occupiers are using the Crimean peninsula as a military base and a platform for aggression against Ukraine.
▶ The Zla Mavka resistance movement continues to publish its diaries, detailing the realities of life in occupied territories. Activists also reported that in occupied Crimea, children as young as five years old are being recruited to participate in propaganda events with a military theme.
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”.
