02 July 2024
WEEKLY UPDATE ON THE SITUATION IN OCCUPIED CRIMEA ON JULY 2, 2024
Main news of the week:
▶ Ukraine has successfully secured the return of Nariman Dzhelyal, the First Deputy of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, from Russian captivity. He was unlawfully detained by the occupiers and sentenced to 17 years in prison in 2021 following the Inaugural Summit of the Crimea Platform. Nariman Dzhelyal was the only person who traveled from occupied Crimea to participate in the summit. Upon his return to Crimea after the event, he was unlawfully arrested by Russian law enforcement representatives.
Crimes committed by the Russian Federation in occupied Crimea
▶ By July 2024, Russia had illegally imprisoned 217 people in occupied Crimea on ethnic, religious, and political grounds, 132 of whom were Crimean Tatars.
▶ A 26-year-old Sevastopol resident urged his friends on social media to join one of the clandestine resistance movements operating in occupied Crimea. The man was detained by security forces and faces eight to fifteen years of unlawful confinement with a fine or life imprisonment.
▶ The occupation “court” illegally sentenced a resident of Crimea to 12 years in a strict regime colony for allegedly recording a video of the operation of an enemy air defense complex in August 2022, commenting on its location, and passing this data to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
▶ Eskender Abdulhaniiev, illegally convicted in the “case of Crimean Muslims”, has been held for five months in the punishment isolator of the penal colony, and the terms of his illegal detention are constantly being extended. The prison commission unreasonably called the man a “persistent offender, prone to constant violations”. He was put on the disciplinary list and announced that he would be subjected to strict conditions of detention.
▶ The occupation “court” has illegally convicted Emine Zekeriaieva in the case of “failure to report a crime”. The “failure to report a crime” means a seven-year-old correspondence on the VKontakte social network. The occupation “court” imposed a fine of 50 thousand rubles. Emine pleaded not guilty. At the same time, the lawyer pointed out several violations during the pre-trial and trial “investigation”, which the occupation “court” ignored. Emine has two minor children.
The use the territory of occupied Crimea as a military base and a springboard for attacks on Ukraine
▶ Activists in occupied Crimea report that the occupiers are carrying out construction work at the former military airfield in Baherove near Kerch. Currently, caponiers have been dug, and the top layer of soil has been removed in some places. Protective earthen ramparts are visible on the territory of future military equipment parking lots. Apparently, helicopters will be stationed there. Construction equipment is also visible in the satellite images.
▶ The booms that were torn down by the storm last year were washed up on the city beach in Kerch. In addition, defensive structures have been built near the illegally constructed “Kerch Bridge” for three weeks. The occupiers bring in a lot of stone and set piles.
▶ Activists of the ATESH resistance movement discovered a warehouse and parking lot for Russian military equipment near Hvardiiske. The activists also tracked down the occupiers’ logistical routes for the transfer of military equipment to the front. The schedule of the enemy’s equipment transfer and coordinates were passed on to the relevant Ukrainian services. In addition, ATESH reports that representatives of the National Guard of the Russian Federation come to residents’ workplaces and offer cooperation, namely to provide information about people who, in their opinion, make “data breaches” about Russian security forces to Ukrainian structures. In addition, ATESH investigated the Sevastopol naval complex for the storage and deployment of missiles and ammunition and discovered the location of a large number of enemy weapons, military equipment, S-400 systems, and a radar station on Cape Fiolent.
Resistance movement of Ukrainian citizens in occupied Crimea
▶ Russia is persecuting at least 847 people in occupied Crimea for expressing solidarity with Ukraine. People are subjected to administrative penalties in the form of illegal fines and arrests, and various forms of pressure and intimidation for the slightest manifestation of solidarity with Ukraine.
▶ A man from the occupied village of Tsvitochne in Bilohirsk region supported Ukraine and the Armed Forces of Ukraine on social media and criticized the occupiers. He was detained, the materials of his “case” were sent to the “court”. The man was forced to apologize on camera.
▶ A resident of Crimea published posts on social media in support of Ukraine, the Armed Forces, and Ukrainian national symbols. During his illegal detention by the occupiers, the occupiers found flags of Ukraine and patriotic symbols on his property. The materials of the “case” were sent to the “court.”
▶ A resident of Alushta spoke out in a shop against the occupation of Crimea and the Russian occupiers. The occupation “court” unlawfully imposed a sentence of 15 days of arrest and a fine of 30 thousand rubles.
▶ A resident of the village of Soniachna Dolyna expressed on her social media waiting for the liberation of Crimea, supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and wishing for Ukraine’s victory. The occupiers drew up an administrative “protocol” to allegedly “discredit the Russian Armed Forces” and sent the materials to the “court”.
▶ The occupiers in Crimea complain that residents of occupied Armiansk pour red paint on cars with Russian symbols and “Z” symbols as a sign of condemnation.
▶ 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, including Simferopol, Sevastopol, Bakhchysarai, Yalta, and Yevpatoriia,. Activists report that Crimea is the largest region of resistance with more than 5,000 movement members. Also, as part of the “This is Ukraine” flash mob, activists of the Yellow Ribbon movement raised the Ukrainian flag on the top of the Canakai Qır Mountain, also known as the Petrivski Cliffs.
▶ Activists of the Crimean Combat Seagulls continue to expose the personal data of collaborators and Russian war criminals in occupied Crimea.
▶ The Zla Mavka women’s resistance movement continues its efforts by publishing diaries and a weekly newspaper that expose the crimes committed by the occupiers. Additionally, activists have been distributing patriotic leaflets in occupied Simferopol bearing the inscriptions “Soon we will be home again” and “Simferopol is Ukraine.”
We urge the international community not to overlook the crimes Russia has committed against Ukrainian citizens in occupied Crimea. It is crucial to disseminate information about the human rights violations occurring under occupation.