08 July 2025
WEEKLY UPDATE ON THE SITUATION IN OCCUPIED CRIMEA ON JULY 8, 2025
Main news of the week
▶ The Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has released footage of the UJ-26 drones — better known as Bober — in operation over temporarily occupied Crimea. The drones successfully struck a Pantsir-S1 air defense system along with its crew, a Niobiy-SV radar, a Pechora-3 coastal radar, a Protivnik-GE radar, as well as a Russian Su-30 fighter jet at the airfield in Saky.
Crimes committed by the Russian Federation
▶ As of July 2025, Russia has illegally imprisoned 221 people in occupied Crimea on ethnic, religious, and political grounds, including 133 Crimean Tatars.
▶ The Russian occupation administration has unlawfully extended the detention of Crimean political prisoner Volodymyr Ananiev until November 2025. The next court hearing, initially scheduled for June 25, has been postponed to August 20. His family maintains that the charges of possessing explosives and aiding in the preparation of a terrorist act are fabricated.
▶ The health of Crimean Tatar activist and political prisoner Asan Akhtemov continues to deteriorate. Over the past year, his eyesight has worsened, and he suffers from severe pain in his back and knees, preventing him from sitting for more than 15 minutes. Despite numerous requests, he has not received proper medical care.
▶ The health condition of citizen journalist Amet Suleimanov is significantly worsening in Russian detention. He consistently suffers from high blood pressure, dental issues, and skin rashes. Nevertheless, a necessary heart surgery continues to be postponed under the pretext of “waiting for a response from Moscow,” while he receives only minimal medication.
▶ Citizen journalist and political prisoner Osman Arifmemetov was unlawfully transferred from his previous place of detention in Minusinsk (Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia), where he suffered severe exhaustion and lost 22 kilograms, to a penal colony in the city of Novotroitsk, Orenburg region of the Russian Federation — over 2,500 kilometers from Crimea.
▶ Political prisoner Arsen Abkhairov, after his illegal transfer to a penal colony in Novocheboksarsk (Chuvashia, Russia), reported a worsening of varicose veins and serious dental issues. His condition requires urgent medical attention, but the Russian administration has ignored his appeals since May 2023.
▶ Crimean Tatar political prisoner Seiran Saliiev has been held in a punitive isolation cell of a Russian penal colony in the Tula region since 10 June 2025. Prior to that, he was kept in isolation from November 2024 to March 2025 — over three months in total. Such prolonged solitary confinement without justification may qualify as inhuman treatment.
▶ Relatives of several Kremlin-held Crimean prisoners, including citizen journalists, report deteriorating health conditions. In particular, concerns have been raised about Server Mustafaiev and Vilen Temeriianov. Mustafaiev, who was unlawfully sentenced to 14 years in prison, is experiencing worsening issues with his heart, vision, thyroid gland, and musculoskeletal system. He requires comprehensive medical treatment. Temeriianov, detained in 2022, is suffering from near-total tooth loss and urgently needs dental intervention.
The use of occupied Crimea as a springboard for attacks on Ukraine and the militarization of the peninsula
▶ Monitoring channels report the presence of specific Russian Black Sea Fleet vessels in the temporarily occupied Sevastopol Bay. In particular, a Project 1124M Albatros-M small anti-submarine ship and a minesweeper are moored at Pier No. 14. In Holland Bay, the rescue vessel Epron is anchored.
▶ Activists of the ATESH resistance movement report continued surveillance of the situation in Sevastopol’s Southern Bay. According to them, port infrastructure continues to deteriorate annually, with a noticeable decline in the movement of both military and civilian vessels. This decrease in activity complicates Russian efforts to conceal equipment or operations, increasing the vulnerability of their military presence.
▶ Activists from Cyber-ATESH have claimed to have obtained classified documents from Russia’s Black Sea Fleet concerning patrol schedules of vessels escorting the so-called “shadow fleet” involved in the illicit transport of oil. The documents include detailed routes, departure schedules, rotating crews, hull numbers, and personal data of commanders. The protection of this fleet is reportedly carried out by units of the 26th Special Purpose Detachment.
▶ According to the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Russian occupation forces carried out a series of massive combined attacks across Ukraine over the past week. These included 312 strike UAVs of various types — Shahed, Shahed-Geran, and Herbera — as well as 3 ballistic missiles of the Iskander-M type.
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 1435 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 occupied Sevastopol was detained by Russian forces for posting social media content critical of the occupying military. He was accused of so-called “discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation” and fined 45,000 rubles by an occupation “court.”
▶ A resident of Kerch was arrested after posting a comment on social media about a Ukrainian drone attack on the Kremlin. The occupiers charged him with allegedly “publicly justifying terrorism.” He now faces an unlawful criminal case and up to seven years of imprisonment.
▶ A resident of Simferopol held a solo anti-war protest with a sign reading “No to war” in the city center. The so-called “court” on the temporarily occupied peninsula fined him 50,000 rubles for the protest. In addition to the administrative penalty, he was also subjected to a forced psychiatric evaluation.
▶ Activists from the Yellow Ribbon resistance movement reported the destruction of archaeological layers in Primorsky Park in the city of Kerch, where excavators operated by the occupation administration are demolishing ancient cultural strata, treating fragments of amphorae and tiles as ordinary waste. The activists also continued spreading Ukrainian symbols on the streets of Simferopol, Sevastopol, Yalta, Yevpatoriia, and Saky, maintaining resistance efforts across multiple cities in Crimea.
▶ Activists from the Crimean Combat Seagulls are continuing to expose the personal data of collaborators and Russian war criminals in occupied Crimea.
▶ The Zla Mavka resistance group continues to publish its diaries, providing regular insights into life under occupation.
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.