06 August 2024
WEEKLY UPDATE ON THE SITUATION IN OCCUPIED CRIMEA ON AUGUST 6, 2024
Main news of the week
▶ On August 1, 2024, the launching ceremony of the second Ada-class corvette under construction for Ukraine, Hetman Ivan Vyhovskyi, took place at the STM shipyard in Istanbul. The ship will strengthen the Ukrainian Navy.
▶ On the night of August 2 to 3, the Defense Forces of Ukraine in Crimea hit a Russian submarine, Rostov-on-Don, carrying Kalibr missiles. The enemy’s S-400 air defense system and four Triumph air defense missile launchers were also damaged.
Crimes committed by the Russian Federation
▶ As of August 6, 2024, in occupied Crimea, Russia has illegally imprisoned 218 persons on ethnic, religious, and political grounds; 133 Crimean Tatars are among them.
▶ The occupation court sentenced Mariia Pukhovska to a year of suspended imprisonment for protesting against the illegal “elections” in occupied Crimea held in March this year. The woman was also placed on probation for two years. Holding “elections” by the aggressor state in the occupied territories is a violation of international law.
▶ Crimean Tatar activist Vladlen Abdulkadyrov, who was unjustifiably sentenced to 12 years in prison by the occupiers in the so-called “second Simferopol group” case, was illegally transferred from the Lipetsk region of the Russian Federation to the Colony #21 in the Arkhangelsk region of the Russian Federation, almost three thousand kilometers from Crimea.
▶ The occupiers extended the illegal arrest of Leniie Umerova for another three months until November 4, 2024. In addition, the investigator in the “case” of Leniie has changed. The girl was unreasonably detained by Russian security forces when she was on her way to visit her seriously ill father in occupied Crimea.
▶ The occupation court extended the illegal arrest until November 4 for the Crimeans from Dzhankoi and the Dzhankoi region—Enver Khalillaiev, Nariman Ametov, Ali Mamutov, and Vakhid Mustafaiev, the imam of the mosque in the village of Lobanove, who were detained by Russian security forces in March this year after illegal searches. Also, the court changed the measure of restraint from detention to house arrest for another defendant in the case, Arsen Kashka. The men are persecuted for protesting against political persecution and repression in occupied Crimea.
▶ Crimean Tatar activists Abdulmedzhyt Seitumerov, Ametkhan Umerov, Eldar Yakubov, Seidamet Mustafaiev, Remzi Nimetulaiev, and Ruslan Asanov were illegally transferred from Crimea to the pre-trial detention center in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, where illegal trials against the activists will begin in a Russian court on August 12. Russians are using the method of silent deportation, moving Ukrainian citizens from the occupied territory, which is contrary to international humanitarian law.
▶ Civic journalist and activist Remzi Bekirov, who was illegally sentenced to 19 years in prison by the Russian occupiers for covering human rights violations and the persecution of Crimean political prisoners, was transferred to a Russian penal colony in the Republic of Khakassia, Russian Federation, more than five thousand kilometers from Crimea.
Using the territory of occupied Crimea as a springboard for attacks on Ukraine
▶ According to the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Russian occupiers carried out a series of massive attacks on the territory of Ukraine during the week, including 2 Kh-31P anti-radar missiles from the airspace over the Black Sea, 3 Iskander-M ballistic missiles and 42 Shahed attack UAVs, including from the territory of occupied Crimea.
▶ Activists of the ATESH resistance movement tracked the deployment of a missile system, radar systems, and several S-300 missile systems of the occupiers in one of the districts of Sevastopol. The coordinates were passed to the relevant Ukrainian services. The activists also report that Russian security forces have set up the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation office in one of Yalta’s sanatoriums. A commission from Moscow recently visited there to monitor guerrilla movements on the peninsula.
Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion and spread its military violence throughout Ukraine, Russians have been using occupied Crimea 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 913 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 the Feodosiia region spoke out against the Russian occupation forces publicly. Russian security forces detained the man, and he faces up to five years in prison for allegedly “discrediting the Russian Armed Forces.”
▶ Activists of the Yellow Ribbon movement held another pro-Ukrainian rally in Sevastopol, placing stickers near a memorial sign in honor of the 200th anniversary of the city’s founding. In addition, activists report that in Simferopol, over the past few days, activists have hung 150 ribbons and 100 leaflets to symbolize Ukrainian resistance to the Russian occupation. In addition, patriotic leaflets appeared in Alushta and Yalta. Activists of the Yellow Ribbon movement also report that in Crimea, the occupiers have begun massive tree felling to build fortifications on the coast of the peninsula.
▶ Activists of the Crimean Combat Seagulls continue to expose the personal data of collaborators and Russian war criminals in occupied Crimea.
▶ The Zla Mavka resistance movement continues to write diaries, distribute a weekly newspaper that reveals the occupiers’ crimes, and distribute its symbols. Thus, the movement’s weekly newspaper is displayed on the streets of Yalta.
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.