03 February 2026
WEEKLY UPDATE ON THE SITUATION IN OCCUPIED CRIMEA ON FEBRUARY 3, 2026
Main news of the week
▶ The Defense Forces of Ukraine struck an enemy Tor-M2 surface-to-air missile system near the settlement of Kacha in the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea.
▶ Temporarily occupied Crimea is facing a shortage of burial sites, prompting plans to expand several cemeteries, some of which have already increased their area by ten percent. At the same time, Russian official statistics report a decrease in mortality rates.
▶ A large oil slick and dozens of dead birds covered in fuel oil have been recorded near Yalta. Despite satellite imagery confirming the pollution, the occupation authorities deny the incident.
▶ The vessel ZAID, sailing under the Russian flag, transported 35,800 tonnes of Ukrainian wheat from the Avlita terminal in temporarily occupied Sevastopol to the Syrian port of Tartus.
Crimes committed by the Russian Federation
▶ As of 3 February 2026, Russia has illegally imprisoned 224 individuals in temporarily occupied Crimea on ethnic, religious, and political grounds, including 133 Crimean Tatars.
▶ Nasrulla Seydaliev has been held for over five months in a punishment cell at a penal colony in the village of Maima, Altai Republic, without contact with his family, parcels, or visits.
▶ The health condition of Crimean Tatar political prisoner Seitumer Seitumerov has significantly deteriorated. This was reported by his wife, Pakyze Seitumerova, following a long visit. According to her, Seitumerov is experiencing crumbling teeth, deteriorating eyesight, and severe paleness, which may be the result of vitamin deficiency and lack of sunlight.
▶ Crimean Tatar activist Emil Ziyadinov, sentenced to 17 years’ imprisonment and previously held in a punishment cell for over a year, has been transferred to a strict-regime detention unit at Penal Colony No. 5 in Arkhangelsk Oblast. His wife reported that following his transfer in autumn 2024, Ziyadinov was repeatedly placed in punishment cells, including for performing religious rites, which the colony administration classified as alleged violations of the prison regime.
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 occupying forces carried out a series of massive combined attacks against Ukraine over the past week, launching more than 251 attack UAVs of the Shahed, Shahed-Geran, and Gerbera types, 4 Zircon anti-ship missiles, and 33 Iskander-M ballistic missiles, including launches from the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea and the Black Sea waters. Russian forces continue to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during winter, carrying out acts of terror against the civilian population.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion and the expansion of its military aggression across the entire territory of Ukraine, temporarily occupied Crimea has been used by Russia as a military base to conduct aggression in various forms. From the peninsula, occupying forces continue to launch attacks against Ukraine, including strikes on civilian infrastructure.
The resistance movement of Ukrainian citizens in occupied Crimea
▶ For acts of solidarity with Ukraine, Russia has persecuted 1,672 individuals in temporarily occupied Crimea, subjecting them to illegal administrative penalties, including fines and arrests.
▶ Activists of the “Yellow Ribbon” resistance movement carried out a new act of resistance in temporarily occupied Crimea. Symbols of Ukrainian resistance appeared simultaneously in three cities—Simferopol, Sevastopol, and Alushta.
The full-scale invasion has been marked by a sharp increase in acts of solidarity and resistance by residents of occupied Crimea against the Russian occupiers. Residents of the occupied territories unite in resistance movements such as the aforementioned “Yellow Ribbon,” “Crimean Combat Seagulls,” “Zla Mavka,” “ATESH,” or act individually.
To suppress the local resistance movement on the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea after 24 February 2022, the occupiers began actively persecuting and subjecting Ukrainian citizens to administrative liability under the article on so-called discrediting the Russian Armed Forces.
The de-occupation of Crimea is an essential part of ending the war and restoring peace. Ukrainians are doing everything possible to stop the aggressor and protect the entire world from Russia’s criminal actions. This is not a local or regional issue — Russia’s aggression poses a threat to the whole world and the international order.