27 August 2024
WEEKLY UPDATE ON THE SITUATION IN OCCUPIED CRIMEA ON AUGUST 27, 2024
Main news of the week
▶ On August 22, the Defense Forces of Ukraine hit and sank a ferry carrying fuel in the port of Kavkaz on the Azov coast of the Kerch Peninsula. It was carrying at least 30 fuel tanks. The Russians used the ferry as an important element of military logistics.
Crimes committed by the Russian Federation
▶ As of August 20, 2024, Russia has illegally imprisoned 219 people in occupied Crimea on ethnic, religious, and political grounds, 133 of them Crimean Tatars.
▶ The health condition of the Crimean political prisoner, journalist Amet Suleimanov, illegally sentenced by the Russian Federation to 12 years in prison, has deteriorated significantly after being transferred to a Russian prison. Due to high blood pressure, the man suffers from constant nosebleeds, frequent dizziness, and shortness of breath. He needs urgent surgery to replace his heart valve. The prison administration is delaying the provision of medical care to the man.
▶ The occupation “court” sentenced a resident of Hurzuf, the Yalta region, to 13 years in a strict regime colony and a fine of 200 thousand rubles for alleged “high treason.” The occupiers falsely accused the man of passing on information to the Ukrainian Defense Forces that could harm the Russian occupation army. The hearing of the “case” was held in a non-public format.
▶ A Russian “court” has extended the illegal arrest of Crimean Tatar activists who have been unlawfully imprisoned for two years in the so-called “first Dzhankoi group,” even though one of the activists was absent from the hearing due to a severe contagious disease. Crimean political prisoners will remain in custody until November 29, 2024.
▶ The occupiers illegally sent imam Remzi Kurtnezirov for a forensic psychological examination. The man has suffered three strokes, skull trepanation, diabetes, and high blood pressure, and the right side of his body is entirely disabled. Despite this, the occupiers began to persecute the Crimean Tatar in March this year during mass searches of religious leaders in the Bakhchysarai and Dzhankoi regions of Crimea.
Use of occupied Crimea as a springboard for attacks on Ukraine
▶ According to the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Russian occupiers carried out a series of massive attacks on the territory of Ukraine during the week, including a massive combined attack on the critical infrastructure of Ukraine, in particular on the fuel and energy sector of the state, using various types of air, land and sea-based missiles on the night of August 26, particularly with 8 Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles, 28 Kalibr cruise missiles and 118 Shahed attack UAVs, including from the territory of occupied Crimea and the Black Sea.
▶ Activists of the ATESH resistance movement in the village of Pryvitne discovered the deployment of a new defense line by the Russian army, including observation posts and trenches near civilians. This fact once again demonstrates how the Russians are using the residents of occupied Crimea as human shields for their military facilities.
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 strike at the territory of Ukraine, including civilian infrastructure.
Resistance movement of Ukrainian citizens in occupied Crimea
▶ Russia has already prosecuted 943 people in occupied Crimea for expressing solidarity with Ukraine, who are subjected to administrative penalties in the form of illegal fines and arrests.
▶ A resident of Feodosiia spoke negatively about Russian security forces, occupation troops, and the actions of the occupying country. The occupation administration detained him, sent the case file to the “court,” and forced him to apologize on camera under pressure.
▶ A 54-year-old resident of Sevastopol spoke negatively about the actions of the occupation forces in one of the Internet messengers. Russian security forces detained him, drew up an administrative report, and sent the case file to the “court.” The man faces up to five years in prison.
▶ A resident of occupied Armiansk supported the Ukrainian Armed Forces on social media and wished for the de-occupation of Crimea. The woman was detained by Russian security forces and accused of allegedly “discrediting the Russian army.” The case file was sent to the occupation court, and the woman was coerced to apologize on camera.
▶ A man in the occupied city of Feodosiia sang the Ukrainian anthem in public spaces. Russian security forces detained the man and accused him of allegedly “discrediting the Russian army.” The materials were sent to the “court.”
▶ Activists of the Yellow Ribbon movement organized mass rallies on Ukraine’s National Flag Day and Independence Day. In the cities of occupied Crimea, activists raised and painted Ukrainian national flags on buildings and distributed patriotic leaflets, reminding people that Crimea is waiting for liberation from Russian occupiers.
▶ Activists of the Crimean Combat Seagulls movement do not stop their activities aimed at exposing the identities of collaborators and Russian war criminals on the occupied peninsula. In addition, the activists congratulated the residents of Crimea on Independence Day in Ukraine.
▶ The Zla Mavka resistance movement continues to distribute patriotic inscriptions and stickers in the occupied territories, write their diaries, and distribute a weekly newspaper that reveals the occupiers’ crimes and informs about the realities of life in the occupied territories. The activists also held campaigns to destroy Russian flags and other occupation symbols on the occasion of the National Flag Day and Independence Day of Ukraine.
A sharp increase in solidarity and resistance actions of the residents of occupied Crimea against the Russian occupiers marked the full-scale invasion. Residents of the occupied territories unite in resistance movements, such as the mentioned Yellow Ribbon movement, 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.”
We urge the international community not to ignore Russian crimes against Ukrainian citizens in occupied Crimea and to spread information about human rights violations in the occupation.