04 March 2025
WEEKLY UPDATE ON THE SITUATION IN OCCUPIED CRIMEA ON MARCH 4, 2025
Main news of the week
▶ In the early hours of February 26, 2025, units of the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in coordination with the Main Intelligence Directorate and other components of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, carried out strikes on multiple strategic targets of Russian occupiers in temporarily occupied Crimea. The strikes targeted the military airfields Saky and Kacha, which Russian forces have been using to launch aggression against Ukraine.
Crimes committed by the Russian Federation
▶ As of March 2025, Russia has illegally imprisoned 220 people in occupied Crimea on ethnic, religious, and political grounds, including 133 Crimean Tatars.
▶ An occupation “court” denied the administrative lawsuit of citizen journalist Remzi Bekirov, who was unlawfully convicted by Russia and is being held in a penal colony. A month ago, the political prisoner was arbitrarily placed in solitary confinement for five days for performing his morning prayer (namaz). During the hearing, Bekirov explained that he prayed for only a few minutes at around 7 a.m., but a colony officer filed a report against him, claiming that he had violated the prison’s daily schedule. Bekirov disputed the report and the disciplinary measure, but the occupation “court” sided with the penal colony, ruling that he had allegedly breached the facility’s regulations.
▶ An occupation “court” rejected the lawsuit filed by the mother of Crimean Tatar activist and human rights defender Riza Izetov, who was unlawfully sentenced by a Russian court to 19 years in prison. She sought his transfer to a penal colony located closer to Crimea. In October 2024, Izetov was forcibly transferred to a Russian prison in the Republic of Sakha, more than 9,000 kilometers away from his homeland.
▶ Oleksandr Sizikov, a visually impaired political prisoner and defendant in the so-called “Crimean Muslims case,” who was unlawfully sentenced by Russia to 17 years in prison, has been forcibly transferred—effectively deported—to a prison in Minusinsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, 5,000 kilometers from Crimea. He is currently being held in a “quarantine” cell alongside four other inmates.
The use of occupied Crimea as a springboard for attacks on Ukraine and the militarization of the peninsula
▶ Agents of the ATESH movement provided intelligence data that enabled Ukraine’s Armed Forces to strike the Saky military airfield near the village of Novofedorivka in the Yevpatoriia district. Additionally, activists report that Rosgvardia is now guarding wounded Russian soldiers in hospitals across occupied Crimea. This measure was introduced following cases of Russian troops fleeing during treatment.
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 1242 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 Karsa village, Kerch district, was detained by Russian occupation security forces after engaging in a verbal altercation near a Feodosiia clinic with a Russian occupier and participant in Russia’s war against Ukraine. During the exchange, he spoke critically about the Russian occupation forces. The man was arbitrarily detained, and administrative protocols were unlawfully filed against him. The case materials have been transferred to the occupation “court” for further proceedings.
▶ Ahead of February 26—Day of Resistance to the Occupation of Crimea, activists from the Yellow Ribbon movement raised Ukrainian flags atop Pakhkal-Kaya, symbolizing that Crimea has not fallen silent and resistance against Russian occupation continues. Additionally, in Yalta, Simferopol, Sevastopol, and Dzhankoi, activists distributed patriotic leaflets reminding residents that Crimea has not accepted occupation and will return under Ukraine’s control.
▶ Activists of the Crimean Combat Seagulls continue to expose personal data of Russian war criminals and collaborators, as well as gather intelligence on the locations of Russian military facilities in occupied Crimea.
▶ The Zla Mavka resistance movement keeps documenting life under occupation, publishing firsthand accounts of reality in occupied territories. Additionally, activists conducted an action reminding everyone that Crimea is waiting for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
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.