10 February 2026
WEEKLY UPDATE ON THE SITUATION IN OCCUPIED CRIMEA ON FEBRUARY 10, 2026
Main News of the Week
▶ During the reconstruction of the embankment in temporarily occupied Yevpatoriia, Russians stole 172 million rubles (approximately 52 million hryvnias). Instead of 140,000 tonnes of special pebbles for the beach area, the contractor brought ordinary crushed stone and gravel suitable only for construction work.
▶ Dmytro Lubinets stated that the Russian occupying authorities have created a network of so-called camps in Crimea, using them as intermediate filtration centres for Ukrainian children — for ideological indoctrination, selection, and subsequent deportation or forced “re-education” in Russian families.
▶ In 2025, political persecution in the occupied territories, particularly in Crimea, intensified sharply, especially against women: at least 64 women ended up in places of detention on charges that human rights defenders consider politically motivated. In total, human rights defenders record that Russian security forces are holding at least 148 Ukrainians from Crimea and the south of Ukraine behind bars in fabricated cases of “espionage” and “sabotage”, accompanied by torture and pressure to extract “confessions”.
Crimes Committed by the Russian Federation
▶ As of 10 February 2026, Russia has illegally imprisoned 224 individuals in temporarily occupied Crimea on ethnic, religious, and political grounds, 133 of whom are Crimean Tatars.
▶ The wife of Server Mustafayev reported that the Crimean Tatar human rights defender and journalist has been in a strict detention unit at Penal Colony No. 1 in Tambov for two years and has no prospects of transfer to the general unit. According to her, he was placed in the unit in February 2024, and the institution’s administration explained this not because of his behaviour, but because of the “severity of the article” of the accusation.
▶ Relatives of Crimean political prisoner and citizen journalist Iryna Danylovych reported that the 46-year-old woman, who has been illegally held for nearly four years in Colony No. 7 in the city of Zelenokumsk in the Stavropol Krai of the Russian Federation, has partially lost her hearing and constantly suffers from severe headaches due to untreated otitis, for which she was denied medical assistance for a long time. According to them, Iryna has completely lost hearing in her left ear and regularly complains of noise and ringing in her head and ears, yet despite repeated appeals, she does not receive qualified medical assistance or necessary medicines.
▶ The wife of Crimean political prisoner Rustem Huhuryk reported that her husband’s health condition remains critical: due to prolonged pain and purulent discharge, he has almost completely lost hearing in one ear, while proper treatment and necessary medications in sufficient dosages are not provided to him. In addition, the political prisoner suffers from high blood pressure and constant shortness of breath, has problems with eating due to the absence of dental bridges, and the results of the cardiological examination conducted in the autumn have not been provided to him or his relatives.
The use of occupied Crimea as a springboard for attacks on Ukraine and the militarization of the peninsula
▶ According to the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Russian occupiers carried out a series of massive combined attacks on the territory of Ukraine during the week. Specifically, over 662 attack UAVs of the “Shahed”, “Shahed-Geran”, and “Gerbera” types, 2 “Zircon” anti-ship missiles, 13 “Iskander-M” ballistic missiles, and 16 “Kalibr” cruise missiles were launched, including from the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea and the Black Sea waters. Russian invaders continue to attack Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during the winter, carrying out another act of terror against the civilian population.
▶ Activists of the “Yellow Ribbon” movement reported an intensification of the propaganda campaign by the Russian occupying authorities aimed at recruiting residents of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine into the Russian army. According to them, relevant agitation materials appear en masse in various cities, particularly in Luhansk, Sevastopol, Nova Kakhovka, and Melitopol, as confirmed by published photographs. At the same time, local residents, despite the occupiers’ agitation, demonstrate strong support for and expectation of the Defence Forces.
▶ An event aimed at the militarisation of youth took place in the temporarily occupied Krasnohvardiiske district. The so-called leading specialist in work with youth Natalia Chuvakova held a “career guidance meeting” with 11th-grade students of “Zhovtneve School No. 1”, during which she spoke about military service and military educational institutions. Earlier, in temporarily occupied Yalta, college students also participated in training to operate unmanned aerial vehicles.
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
▶ For demonstrating solidarity with Ukraine, Russia is already persecuting 1,672 people in the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea, who receive administrative penalties in the form of illegal fines and arrests.
▶ Activists of the “Yellow Ribbon” movement report that residents of the TOT continue to show whom they truly support and whom they are waiting for — symbols of resistance have appeared again in Simferopol.
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.