07 October 2025
WEEKLY UPDATE ON THE SITUATION IN OCCUPIED CRIMEA ON OCTOBER 7, 2025
Main news of the week
▶ On the night of September 30, the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine struck a radar station of the Russian S-400 “Triumf” surface-to-air missile system located in the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea. According to the Special Operations Forces, the strategically important air defense system, designed in particular to counter unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), was destroyed by strike drones. The radar station serves as the “eyes” of the S-400 system, and without this surveillance and targeting element, the system becomes inoperative.
▶ On the night of October 6, the Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces carried out a strike on the Feodosia oil transshipment terminal in the temporarily occupied Crimea. According to the Unmanned Systems Forces, the facility has approximately 250,000 cubic meters of storage capacity and can pump over 1,500 tons of fuel per hour, making it a key infrastructure link in supplying Russian troops in the occupied territories. The strike caused a large-scale fire on the premises of the facility.
Crimes Committed by the Russian Federation
▶ As of October 2025, Russia has unlawfully imprisoned 222 individuals in the occupied Crimea on ethnic, religious, and political grounds, including 133 Crimean Tatars.
▶ In the temporarily occupied Crimea, 37-year-old Crimean Tatar woman Niyara Ersmambetova, the mother of two children, is being illegally held in a pre-trial detention center. Since May 2025, she has been held on fabricated charges of so-called ‘treason,’ which carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Prior to her arrest, she was employed as a pharmacist in the Bilohirsk district. Her 9-year-old daughter and 16-year-old son remain at liberty and currently live with their 70-year-old grandfather, who has a second-degree disability. Before her arrest, Ersmambetova was the sole breadwinner for the family.
▶ Muslim Aliyev, a Crimean Tatar religious figure from Alushta, who was illegally sentenced by the occupiers to 19 years in prison, has been continuously held for over 1,140 days in a strict-regime barrack at Colony No. 2 in Salavat (Bashkortostan). Since August 16, 2022, the political prisoner has repeatedly been placed in solitary confinement, including for refusing to interrupt his Muslim prayer during inspections. Complaints regarding the unlawful actions of the administration have yielded no results.
▶ Crimean Tatar activist and Arabic philologist Ismet Ibragimov, illegally sentenced to 19 years in prison, was unlawfully transferred from the Dimitrovgrad prison (Ulyanovsk region) to Correctional Colony No. 6 in the village of Sosnovy Bor, Pskov region. He is currently held in quarantine and is awaiting transfer to the general ward.
▶ Crimean Tatar political prisoner Ayder Saledinov from Simferopol, illegally sentenced by Russian occupiers to 11 years and 6 months of imprisonment, has been held in solitary confinement at Colony No. 2 in Salavat (Bashkortostan) since September 5. He has been in the punishment cell for nearly one and a half months, until October 20, without the administration providing a reason. The grounds for disciplinary measures may be formal, such as an “incorrect” greeting of staff members.
▶ Crimean political prisoner Arsen Ibragimov, sentenced by the occupiers to 10 years in a strict-regime colony, has developed bronchial asthma during his imprisonment, which is worsening due to the lack of proper medical care and the harsh climate in Omsk. Colony doctors lack the necessary resources, X-rays are conducted only once every six months, and Arsen receives medication solely through limited packages sent by his relatives. His family fears that under conditions of infections, subzero temperatures, and lack of treatment, Arsen may not survive the full illegal term.
▶ 26-year-old Mamut Belyalov from the village of Dolossi, sentenced by the occupation authorities in Crimea to 12 years in prison for the alleged attempted attack on the former so-called “Minister of Resorts and Tourism” of the peninsula, Vadim Volchenko, was severely beaten in Pre-Trial Detention Center No. 2 in Simferopol. After the verdict, Belyalov was transferred to Colony No. 19 in Volgograd, but was recently returned to Crimea without explanation and placed again in the detention center. According to available information, he was taken for interrogation to the FSB building, conducted without a lawyer and under pressure.
▶ Ruslan Nagaev, a 60-year-old Crimean Tatar political prisoner and entrepreneur from the Alushta district of Crimea, illegally sentenced by the occupying “court” to 13 years in prison, has been hospitalized for the third time in two years. He is undergoing a scheduled examination, after which doctors will decide on further treatment or surgery. As early as August 2024, his relatives reported the urgent need for surgical intervention. Nagaev suffers from a chronic condition that has entered an inflammatory stage; he has repeatedly been transferred to the prison hospital, but there he only received symptomatic treatment, and no specialized consultations were conducted. Following his transfer from the Chelyabinsk region to Arkhangelsk in November 2024, Nagaev’s health sharply deteriorated again. He complained of high blood pressure, kidney pain, worsening dental condition, and the need for consultations with a rheumatologist and gastroenterologist. The lawyer reported that a doctor visited the colony but did not examine the defendant.
The use of occupied Crimea as a springboard for attacks on Ukraine and the militarization of the peninsula
▶ Activists from the “ATESH” movement reported that they conducted reconnaissance of the Information-Computing Center of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol. According to them, this facility functions as the “brain” and “nervous system” of Russian military structures: it collects, processes, and analyzes large volumes of data to support decision-making at various levels. The center receives information from satellites and drones, models enemy actions, coordinates interaction between different branches of the armed forces, and ensures network cyber protection. The activists also reported reconnaissance of two military facilities in Sevastopol – medical warehouses (Unit 22923) and the base of the 12th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Unit 85702). According to their data, the Ministry of Defense medical warehouses have heightened security and active vehicle movement, which may indicate the presence of valuable materials. The technical base of the 12th regiment was found to contain mostly decommissioned equipment and scrap metal, suggesting logistical and supply issues.
▶ According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russian occupiers carried out a series of massive combined attacks on Ukrainian territory over the past week. These included 813 strike drones of the “Shahed,” “Shahed-Heran,” and “Gerbera” types, as well as 9 “Kalibr” cruise missiles, launched both from occupied Crimea and from the Black Sea.
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion and extended military aggression throughout Ukraine, occupied Crimea has been used by Russia as a military base for projecting aggression in various forms. From the territory of the peninsula, the occupiers continue to strike targets in Ukraine, including civilian infrastructure.
The resistance movement of Ukrainian citizens in occupied Crimea
▶ For showing solidarity with Ukraine, Russia is persecuting 1,575 people in occupied Crimea, subjecting them to administrative penalties in the form of unlawful fines and arrests.
▶ Activists from the “Yellow Ribbon” movement published photographs from Simferopol, Sevastopol, and Bakhchisaray dedicated to the celebration of Defenders of Ukraine Day. They emphasize that, despite the temporary occupation of the peninsula, Crimeans celebrate this holiday together with the entire country and express gratitude to the military personnel defending a shared, free Ukrainian future. The activists also report a severe shortage of antidepressants in pharmacies across occupied Crimea. According to them, these medications are nearly impossible to obtain, and orders from Russia take more than three months to arrive. Medical professionals explain this by a sharp increase in cases of depression, anxiety disorders, and other mental health problems on the peninsula. Even Russian official statistics confirm this trend, though, according to doctors, the data is significantly understated and covers only critical cases in state institutions. Meanwhile, the majority (over 70%) of medical services in Crimea are now provided by private clinics.
▶ Activists from the “Crimean Combat Seagulls” continue to expose personal data of collaborators and Russian war criminals in occupied Crimea.
▶ The resistance movement “Zla Mavka” continues to maintain daily diaries documenting life under occupation.
The full-scale invasion has been accompanied by a sharp rise in solidarity actions and resistance by residents of occupied Crimea against Russian occupiers. Residents of the occupied territories are uniting into resistance movements, such as the aforementioned “Yellow Ribbon,” “Crimean Combat Seagulls,” “Zla Mavka,” and “ATESH,” or acting individually. To suppress local resistance in temporarily occupied Crimea after February 24, 2022, the occupiers have actively persecuted and held Ukrainian citizens administratively liable under the so-called “discrediting the Russian army” statute.
The de-occupation of Crimea is an integral component of ending the war and restoring peace. Ukrainians are doing everything possible to stop the aggressor and protect the world from Russia’s criminal actions. This is not merely a local or regional issue; Russia’s aggression poses a threat to the entire world and the international order.