Weekly update about the situation in occupied Crimea on April 16-23, 2024
Main news of the week
▶ ️ On April 17, 2024, according to the Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, as a result of a successful operation at the military aerodrome of the occupied city of Dzhankoi, four Russian S-400 missile launchers, three radar stations, an air defense control center, and Fundament-M airspace surveillance equipment were damaged. Also on April 21, in occupied Sevastopol, the Ukrainian Defense Forces damaged the Russian rescue ship Kommuna, which served to support submarines of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
▶ ️ Almost every second person prosecuted for opposing the occupation regime in Crimea is a woman. As of April 2024, 279 unlawful decisions (41%) on imposing administrative penalties were issued against women. The remaining 401 (59%) were against men.
▶️ April 27 is the birthday of Nariman Dzhelyal, the First Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, who was illegally imprisoned by Russia for 17 years for participating in the Inaugural Summit of the Crimean Platform in 2021.
▶ ️ Political prisoner Amet Suleimanov’s health is deteriorating in the Russian prison in Vladimir. This was reported by his wife. The Crimean Tatar activist and journalist of the Crimean Solidarity was detained in March 2020 and later sentenced to 12 years in prison, accused of alleged “terrorism”. The man suffers from arterial and mitral heart failure.
Crimes committed by the Russian Federation
▶️ As of April 23, 2024, 218 people have been illegally imprisoned in occupied Crimea by Russia for ethnic, religious and political reasons, 134 Crimean Tatars were among those prisoners.
▶️ The occupation court in Simferopol has extended the illegal arrest of activists from Bakhchysarai for the second time. They were illegally detained by Russian security forces on August 24, 2023, for participating in actions against the persecution and illegal arrests of residents of occupied Crimea on ethnic and religious grounds. All detainees are civilian activists and parents of many children. Seidamet Mustafaiev, Remzi Nemetullaiev, Abdulmedzhit Seitumerov, Ametkhan Umerov, Ruslan Asanov and Eldar Yakubov will remain in the custody of the Russian occupiers until July 22, 2024.
▶ The occupiers are deliberately worsening the conditions of detention of our fellow citizens. Crimean Tatar activist Ernes Seitosmanov, illegally sentenced to 18 years, is being held in a cell measuring 1.5 by 2 meters. The room is very damp and has no ventilation. Twice, Seitosmanov was sent to the punishment cell. Russia forbids the activist from meeting with his relatives, he filed three requests to speak with his relatives, but the Russian Federation did not respond to them.
After the occupation of Crimea in 2014, Russia continued its traditional imperial policy of persecution and harassment of local residents, including the indigenous people, the Crimean Tatars. The occupation administration systematically persecutes activists, journalists, and people who oppose Russia’s illegal occupation of Crimea.
Illegal mobilization and violations of the Geneva Conventions and the laws and rules of warfare
▶ According to the resistance movements, during the celebration of the Muslim holiday of Uraza Bayram, the occupiers in the Simferopol district illegally handed out draft summons to the Russian army. Earlier, the Russian occupiers said they planned to increase the number of the Russian army by 300,000 people.
The Russian occupiers, contrary to international humanitarian law, laws, and rules of warfare, are illegally forcibly mobilizing residents of the occupied Crimea to exterminate the disloyal population in the occupation by illegally mobilizing them and later using them as “cannon fodder” at the front.
Use of the territory of the occupied Crimea as a springboard for attacks on Ukraine
▶ According to the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on April 15, the cities of Kropyvnytskyi and Odesa were hit by Iskander-M ballistic missiles from the occupied Crimea on April 16.
▶ On the night of April 19, during a massive combined missile attack on the territory of Ukraine, including 2 Iskander-K cruise missiles and 6 Kh-22 “Storm” cruise missiles were launched from the occupied Crimea from the Black and Azov Seas using The Tupolev Tu-22M long-range strategic bombers, the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported.
▶ According to the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on the night of April 22, Russian occupants attacked Odesa region with 7 HESA Shahed 136 attack UAVs from Cape Chauda – Crimea. And on the night of April 23, 16 UAVs attacked Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kyiv, and Cherkasy regions from Cape Chauda – Crimea.
Since Russia has launched a full-scale invasion and spread its aggression throughout Ukraine, the 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.
The resistance movement of Ukrainian citizens in the occupied Crimea
▶️ 780 people are persecuted by Russia in the occupied Crimea for expressing solidarity with Ukraine. People receive administrative penalties in the form of illegal fines and arrests.
▶ Olha Omelchuk, a resident of occupied Feodosiia, shares posts on social media accusing Russia of attacking peaceful Ukraine and calling the occupation forces invaders. The Russian occupiers illegally detained the woman, fined her, and forced her to apologize on camera.
▶ Ivan Tsyhankov, a resident of occupied Pervomaisk, supported Ukraine and the Armed Forces of Ukraine on social media. Because of that, the occupiers detained him and forced him to apologize on camera.
▶ Activists of the Yellow Ribbon Movement continue to resist the occupiers in Crimea, destroying copies of propaganda materials and distributing patriotic symbols in the occupied cities on the peninsula.
▶ Activists from the movement Crimean Combat Seagulls have reported the destruction of a command post in occupied Crimea which was housing Russian officers. The group collected data on the post and provided it to the relevant Ukrainian services.
▶ The Zla Mavka resistance movement continues to write its diaries and distribute a weekly newspaper that reveals the crimes of the occupiers. The activists also distributed patriotic stickers in occupied Simferopol.
▶ Activists of the ATESH movement discovered the locations of enemy air defense systems in occupied Sevastopol. The activists emphasized that the occupiers placed missile weapons directly near the homes of the residents, thus endangering them. The agents also report that over the past month, ATESH has provided the Ukrainian Defense Forces with data on 200 occupiers’ military facilities in Crimea.
