26 June 2024
WEEKLY UPDATE ON THE SITUATION IN OCCUPIED CRIMEA ON JUNE 25, 2024
Main news of the week:
▶ The occupation court illegally sentenced Crimean residents Kostiantyn Yevmenenko and Oleksandr Lytvynenko to 10 and 9 years in prison. The men were accused of allegedly preparing sabotage in the interests of Ukrainian intelligence against officials of the occupation administration who illegally held the posts in Crimea. The men were ordered to pay fines of 500 thousand rubles.
▶ The occupation court remanded in custody the activists illegally accused in the so-called “Crimean Muslims” case until August 29. These are activist Enver Krosh, correspondent Vilen Temerianov, Rinat Aliiev, and Edem Bekirov. Representatives of the Muslim association to which the activists belong have been persecuted on religious grounds in Russia and occupied Crimea since 2014. Those persecuted in this case by Russian law enforcement agencies are mostly Crimean Tatars.
Crimes committed by the Russian Federation in occupied Crimea
▶ By June 2024, Russia had illegally imprisoned 218 people in occupied Crimea on ethnic, religious, and political grounds, 133 of whom were Crimean Tatars.
▶ Ekrem Krosh, illegally accused in the so-called “Crimean Muslims” case, reported violence by wardens in the pre-trial detention center of a Russian prison, according to his lawyer. Krosh assumes that the violence is used as punishment for the seizure of the detention center by prisoners the day before. Ekrem Krosh reported the violence under the protocol of the court session.
▶ The occupation court fined Bekir Mamut, editor of the Crimean Tatar newspaper Qirim, 100 thousand rubles for so-called “discrediting the Russian army”. The occupiers found him guilty of public actions aimed at “discrediting the Russian army.” The occupiers found him guilty of public actions aimed at “discrediting the Russian army.” This refers to Mamut’s publication of an interview with a Crimean Tatar activist about mobilization in Crimea in 2022.
The use the territory of occupied Crimea as a military base and a springboard for attacks on Ukraine
▶ Illegal construction of a military camp for the occupiers has begun in Kerch. Houses for one of the military units of the National Guard of the Russian Federation are being built on the Industrial Highway. According to the facility’s passport, the occupiers plan to complete the work by the end of 2026.
▶ In the Balaklava district of Sevastopol, the occupiers are building an international-level parking lot for 613 vessels. The overall construction readiness of the facility is 25%. In general, the occupiers plan to illegally build and reconstruct 1,900 meters of berths, and create a modern infrastructure for servicing yachts in the coastal zone and a landscaped embankment. In addition, 63 plots for the construction of hotels and recreational facilities have been identified near the bay. For Russians, military infrastructure continues to be a priority over the standard of living and safety of its residents.
▶ For more than a month, the occupiers have been setting up a system to protect the bridge in the Kerch Strait from attacks by Ukrainian surface drones. The invaders are putting up a second line of barge booms, which already number more than two dozen. In doing so, the occupiers are trying to protect the so-called “Crimean Bridge” that was illegally built in 2018 to artificially connect Crimea with Russia and to transfer military equipment to Crimea.
Resistance movement of Ukrainian citizens in occupied Crimea
▶ Russia is persecuting at least 802 people in occupied Crimea for expressing solidarity with Ukraine. People are subjected to administrative penalties in the form of illegal fines and arrests for the slightest manifestation of solidarity with Ukraine. The invaders are increasingly accusing Ukrainian citizens in the occupied territories of “treason” against Russia.
▶ A resident of Crimea posted on his social media page publications that allegedly “discredit the Russian Armed Forces”. The occupiers unlawfully detained the man for pro-Ukrainian posts, as well as for publications depicting “extremist symbols”. The occupiers consider any attributes that symbolize support for Ukrainian statehood to be extremist. The Crimean resident was unlawfully brought to administrative responsibility under three articles. The total fine is 90 thousand rubles and the arrest for 13 days.
▶ The occupiers sentenced a 44-year-old resident of Yalta to five years in prison for allegedly communicating in a messenger with representatives of the Security Service of Ukraine, where the man allegedly expressed a desire to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Together with a friend, he allegedly passed on information about the Russian military in Crimea to the Security Service of Ukraine and expressed readiness to commit acts of sabotage against Russian military facilities in occupied Crimea.
▶ 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. In particular, this week, at the risk of their safety, activists distributed Ukrainian state symbols in Simferopol, Sevastopol, and Yevpatoriia.
▶ 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 and a weekly newspaper revealing the crimes of the occupiers. The activists also distributed patriotic leaflets in occupied Simferopol.
▶ Activists of the ATESH resistance movement continue to reveal the locations of enemy equipment and other significant military facilities of the occupiers in Crimea. This week, the activists conducted a reconnaissance of the Khersones airfield in Sevastopol and found dugouts and Russian soldiers patrolling the entire perimeter. A Raptor patrol boat was also spotted during the surveillance, indicating a high level of security at the facility. The activists also reconnoitered new firing points of the invaders in occupied Yevpatoriia, the number of which has increased significantly. The occupiers are also actively modernizing and reinforcing their old positions, which, in turn, indicates that the Russian Armed Forces are preparing for the worst-case scenario at the front and a possible landing of Ukrainian troops in Crimea.
Glory to Ukraine!