08 July 2026
Weekly update on the situation in occupied Crimea on July 8, 2026
▶ During the week, operators from the Security Service of Ukraine twice targeted hangars containing enemy aircraft. According to preliminary data, Su-30, Su-24, and Su-30SM combat aircraft were stationed at the site. Following the impact, a blaze broke out in one of the hangars.
▶ On July 4, Defense Forces of Ukraine launched strikes targeting infrastructure in Kerch (the ferry terminal), Dzhankoi (a military airfield), and Yany Kapu (a substation and railway hub). Satellite imagery confirms fires at the locations.
▶ On July 7, the Unmanned Systems Forces struck eight tankers belonging to Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” in the Sea of Azov, which the occupiers utilized to transport fuel to occupied Crimea. A cargo ship and a ferry were also hit in the strike.
▶ Massive blackouts persist across the Crimean Peninsula, alongside a worsening water supply crisis. Starting July 1, the village of Verkhnya Kutuzivka in the Yalta District has seen water service restricted to the hours of 06:00 to 22:00. Public transit is similarly taking a hit: commuter train service on the Bakhchysarai–Inkerman-1 line has been halted since July 5, and regional ticket counters at the railway station in occupied Sevastopol were shut down on July 4.
▶ The ‘Russian House’ centers will host an international competition titled ‘Shared Memory: The Genocide of the Soviet People by the Nazis and Their Accomplices during the Great Patriotic War’. The competition is open to Russian citizens and foreign nationals aged 14 to 35. Participants in the in-person stage will visit memorial complexes and take part in masterclasses led by ‘leading experts’. In this way, Russians are imposing a distorted view of history on foreign youth, romanticizing the Soviet past and promoting myths about the ‘might’ of the USSR, the ‘unity of fraternal peoples’ and Russia’s ‘liberation mission’.
Crimes Committed by the Russian Federation
▶ As of July 8, 2026, 316 individuals on the territory of occupied Crimea are subject to political prosecution, including 169 Crimean Tatars and 1 Crimean Karaite.
▶ An occupation “court” sentenced Simferopol District resident Ruslan Useinov to 6.5 years in a general-regime penal colony on charges of “calls to terrorism”. The man was convicted for Telegram comments left under the pseudonym “Aitmar Aitmarov” in which he allegedly called for missile strikes on the Russian Federation, criticized the Russian military and president, and referred to Russians as “orcs”.
▶ According to human rights activist Lutfiye Zudiyeva, Crimean political prisoner Lenur Khalilov is in critical condition due to liver cancer with metastases. He has been in a hospital in the Arkhangelsk region for over two months; however, targeted therapy is proving ineffective, and the man has nearly lost the ability to move independently. The occupation “court” has yet to rule on his release due to health reasons, leaving judicial defense or an urgent prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine as the only options to save Khalilov.
▶ In the Russian Federation, a third criminal case has been opened against Mykola Polozov, a former lawyer for Crimean political prisoners, for failing to display the ‘foreign agent’ label on his social media accounts since March 2026. He had already been fined twice for this offence. According to Polozov, the new proceedings are merely a formality for the sake of statistics, against the backdrop of other fabricated cases against him – concerning ‘leading a terrorist organisation’ and ‘spreading fake news about the army’ – for which he has already been sentenced in absentia to 8.5 years’ imprisonment and for which an appeal is due to take place shortly.
The use of occupied Crimea as a springboard for attacks on Ukraine and the militarization of the peninsula
▶ Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that the occupiers launched another series of massive combined attacks across Ukraine during the week. Specifically, they deployed over 1,150 strike UAVs, including “Shahed”, “Gerbera”, “Italmas” types, and “Parodiya” decoy drones, from various directions, including the territory of occupied Crimea and the Black Sea. Additionally, the enemy launched two Iskander-M missiles and approximately 5 Iskander-M/S-400 ballistic missiles from Crimea targeting Ukraine.
The resistance movement of Ukrainian citizens in occupied Crimea
▶ A resident of temporarily occupied Sevastopol will stand trial in a Russian court on charges of allegedly justifying “terrorism”. According to the occupation “prosecutor’s office”, in January 2025, the man left comments in which he reportedly approved of an attack on a production facility in the Russian Federation.
The full-scale invasion was marked by a sharp increase in solidarity actions and resistance by the residents of occupied Crimea against the Russian occupiers. Residents of the occupied territories unite into resistance movements, such as “Yellow Ribbon,” “Zla Mavka,” “ATESH,” or act individually.
To suppress the resistance of local residents in the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea after February 24, 2022, the occupiers actively began to persecute and hold citizens of Ukraine administratively liable under the article on the so-called “discreditation of the Russian army”.
The de-occupation of Crimea is an integral 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. Indeed, this is not a local or regional problem: Russia’s aggression poses a threat to the whole world and the international order.