16 July 2024
WEEKLY UPDATE ON THE SITUATION IN OCCUPIED CRIMEA ON JULY 16, 2024
Main news of the week:
▶ The Sejm of the Republic of Poland adopted the Resolution “On the commemoration of the victims of the Crimean Tatar genocide,” which states that the deportation of the Crimean Tatars from Crimea in 1944, which resulted in the death of 46% of the Crimean Tatar people, and its consequences constituted an act of genocide against the Crimean Tatar people.
Crimes committed by the Russian Federation
▶️ As of May 2024, Russia has illegally imprisoned 217 people in occupied Crimea on ethnic, religious, and political grounds, including 133 Crimean Tatars.
▶ Civic journalist and activist Remzi Bekirov, illegally sentenced to 19 years in prison for covering the crimes of the Russian occupiers in Crimea, was illegally transferred from the jail in Yeniseisk, Krasnoyarsk Territory of the Russian Federation. The man’s whereabouts are currently unknown.
▶ The transfer of Aider Dzhapparov, a Crimean political prisoner who was illegally sentenced to 17 years of imprisonment, from Verkhnouralsk prison in the Chelyabinsk region of the Russian Federation to Colony No. 5 in Koriazhma, Arkhangelsk region of the Russian Federation, was carried out in violation of the relevant regulations. Furthermore, the Crimean political prisoner Eskender Abdulhaniiev, who was illegally sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment, was transferred from Colony No. 41 in Yugra, Kemerovo region, where he was unjustly kept in a punishment cell for five months, to Colony No. 29 in Kemerovo, Russia. The new places of detention for political prisoners have harsher conditions, which can have negative consequences for men’s health.
▶ The wife of political prisoner Crimean Tatar Tofik Abdulhaziiev, Aliie Kurtametova, reported that her husband has the fourth stage of disseminated pulmonary tuberculosis, which threatens his life. According to Russian “legislation,” a convict with such a disease can be released from prison. However, Aliie reports that the Russians refused to release him.
▶ The occupiers opened a criminal case against Tetiana Bibik, a resident of Yalta, who published posts on social media criticizing the occupation administration and supporting Ukraine and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Previously, the woman was forced to apologize on camera and faces up to 5 years in prison.
▶ A Crimean resident was sentenced to 19 years in a strict regime colony in a case of alleged high treason. The occupiers have not yet disclosed the details of the “case.”
The use the territory of occupied Crimea as a military base and a springboard for attacks on Ukraine
▶ As indicated by satellite imagery, construction of the new Russian Project 23900 Ivan Rogov amphibious assault ship is underway at the Zalyv Shipyard in Kerch.
▶ The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine reports that the occupiers in Crimea have partially restored the Feodosia-13 facility, a Soviet nuclear weapons depot. However, the facility is now a storage facility for conventional ammunition of the Russian army.
▶ Activists of the ATESH resistance movement recorded increased occupiers’ defensive positions along the Crimean coast and reconnoitered the Chersonese Airport, which the occupiers used as a base for UAVs. The activists also discovered the location of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate with a large amount of military equipment on the territory of a former Ukrainian military unit.
▶ According to the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, over the past week, Russian invaders attacked Ukrainian cities with 3 Iskander-M ballistic missiles, 4 X-59/X-69 guided missiles, and 14 Shahed-131/136 attack UAVs, including from the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea.
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 strike at the territory of Ukraine, including civilian infrastructure.
Resistance movement of Ukrainian citizens in occupied Crimea
▶ Russia has already prosecuted 847 people in occupied Crimea for expressing solidarity with Ukraine. People receive administrative penalties in the form of illegal fines and arrests.
▶ A 42-year-old man, working as a construction worker, allegedly passed information to the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine about the location of occupation troops in Crimea and Sevastopol. The occupiers opened an illegal criminal “case” against the man, and he faces up to 20 years in prison.
▶ A resident of the Yevpatoriia region spoke negatively about the Russian service members and spoke of his desire to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The occupiers detained the man, forced him to apologize on camera, and an illegal “court” imposed a fine of 50 thousand rubles on him, allegedly for “discrediting the Russian Armed Forces.”
▶ A 30-year-old resident of Sevastopol called for violent actions against the occupiers on social media. The Russian occupiers detained the man, and the occupation “court” imposed on him an illegal sentence of 1.5 years in prison with the deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to the administration of websites and channels on the Internet.
▶ A resident of Bilohirsk has expressed support for Ukraine on social media. The occupying forces prepared a report against the individual in question and then submitted it to the occupying “court.”
▶ 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, particularly in Simferopol, Sevastopol, Bakhchysarai, Yalta, and Yevpatoriia. On the Day of Ukrainian Statehood, Yellow Ribbon activists left messages supporting Ukraine in Yalta, Simferopol, Sevastopol, and Alushta.
▶ Activists of the Crimean Combat Seagulls continue to expose the personal data of collaborators and Russian war criminals in occupied Crimea.
▶ The Zla Mavka resistance movement continues to publish its diaries, distribute a weekly newspaper revealing the occupiers’ crimes, and distribute Ukrainian symbols. The activists distributed patriotic stickers in the center of Yalta.
A sharp increase in solidarity and resistance actions of the residents of occupied Crimea against the Russian occupiers marked the full-scale invasion. Residents of the occupied territories unite in resistance movements, such as the aforementioned 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.”
The 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. The war in Ukraine is not a local or regional issue but a threat to the whole world and international order.
We urge the international community not to ignore Russian crimes against Ukrainian citizens in occupied Crimea and to spread information about human rights violations in the occupation.