23 December 2025
WEEKLY UPDATE ON THE SITUATION IN OCCUPIED CRIMEA ON DECEMBER 23, 2025
Main news of the week
▶ The Security Service of Ukraine reported the destruction of two Russian Su-27 aircraft at the Belbek military airfield in Crimea. One of the destroyed aircraft was fully armed and ready for a combat sortie. Additionally, the control tower was struck, which may significantly hinder the organisation and coordination of flights at the airfield. This is the second attack on the Belbek airfield in recent days. Earlier, SBU-operated drones destroyed a MiG-31 aircraft with a full combat load, an S-400 “Triumf” surface-to-air missile system, a Pantsir-S2 air defence system, and other assets.
▶ The occupiers have “nationalised” the property of 84 individuals and legal entities in Crimea. In particular, the assets of Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk, Colonel of the Air Force of Ukraine Yevhen Babych, and the company Tavrida-Plaza LLC were among those targeted for so-called nationalisation.
Crimes committed by the Russian Federation
As of December 2025, Russia has unlawfully imprisoned 224 individuals in the occupied Crimea on ethnic, religious, and political grounds, including 133 Crimean Tatars.
▶ In Henichesk, an occupation “court” sentenced 47-year-old Eldar Karamurzaiev to eight years of imprisonment in a high-security penal colony. The basis for the sentence was his alleged participation in the Noman Çelebicihan Battalion and alleged assistance to the economic blockade of Crimea. Karamurzaiev has become the 30th person convicted in the so-called Noman Çelebicihan Battalion case.
▶ A Russian court of cassation upheld the sentence of Ukrainian journalist and political prisoner Hennadii Os’mak, refusing to reduce his term of imprisonment. Earlier, he had been sentenced to more than three years for alleged involvement in the Noman Çelebicihan Battalion and was later transferred to High-Security Colony No. 6 in Russia’s Vladimir region. During the transfer, Os’mak was subjected to physical and psychological pressure and was deprived of contact with his family for an extended period.
The use of occupied Crimea as a springboard for attacks on Ukraine and the militarization of the peninsula
▶ Activists of the ATESH movement conducted reconnaissance in Crimea. They identified the positions of the 8th Artillery Regiment of the Russian Army in Simferopol, which is involved in shelling operations in Kherson.
▶ In the city of Saky, on the territory of the St. Elijah Church, the occupiers conducted a practical firearm training session for minors, involving members of the Russian formation “Bars-Crimea”. Clergy members also participated in the event, effectively institutionalising the integration of church activities into the militarised training of children.
▶ According to the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Russian occupying forces carried out a series of massive combined attacks on Ukrainian territory over the course of the week. In particular, they launched over 600 Shahed, Shahed-Heran, and Gerbera UAVs, as well as three Iskander-M ballistic missiles, from the territory of occupied Crimea and from the Black Sea.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion and the expansion of its military aggression across the entire territory of Ukraine, occupied Crimea has been used by Russia as an army base for projecting aggression in various forms. From the territory of the peninsula, the occupiers continue to launch strikes on Ukraine, including against civilian infrastructure.
The resistance movement of Ukrainian citizens in occupied Crimea
▶ For expressing solidarity with Ukraine, Russia is already persecuting 1,649 people in occupied Crimea, imposing administrative penalties in the form of illegal fines and arrests.
▶ Activists of the Yellow Ribbon movement distributed ribbons and leaflets featuring the Ukrainian flag and the inscription “Crimea Is Ukraine” in Simferopol, Sevastopol, and Yevpatoria. In this way, the activists demonstrate that the peninsula is an inseparable part of Ukraine.
▶ Activists of the Crimean Combat Seagulls continue to expose the personal data of collaborators and Russian war criminals in occupied Crimea.
The full-scale invasion has been marked by a sharp increase in acts of solidarity and resistance by residents of occupied Crimea against the Russian occupiers. Residents of the occupied territories unite in resistance movements such as the aforementioned “Yellow Ribbon,” “Crimean Combat Seagulls,” “Zla Mavka,” “ATESH,” or act individually.To suppress the local resistance movement on the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea after 24 February 2022, the occupiers began actively persecuting and subjecting Ukrainian citizens to administrative liability under the article on so-called discrediting the Russian Armed Forces.
The de-occupation of Crimea is an essential part of ending the war and restoring peace. Ukrainians are doing everything possible to stop the aggressor and protect the entire world from Russia’s criminal actions. This is not a local or regional issue — Russia’s aggression poses a threat to the whole world and the international order.