31 March 2026
WEEKLY UPDATE ON THE SITUATION IN OCCUPIED CRIMEA ON MARCH 31, 2026
Main News of the Week
▶ On March 24, the Unmanned Systems Department of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) struck Zircon and Bastion hypersonic missile launchers.
▶ On the night of March 27, the Ukrainian Security and Defense forces hit the Valday radar system near Gvardiiske. On the same day, the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine struck a base of maritime unmanned surface vehicle operators in Sevastopol.
▶ Additionally, this week, the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine struck bases of Russian Smerch and Tornado-S multiple rocket launchers, as well as a transport-loader vehicle for them.
▶ Students in occupied Crimea are once again being recruited to produce camouflage nets for the Russian military.
Crimes Committed by the Russian Federation
▶ As of March 11, 2026, 286 people in the territory of occupied Crimea are subject to political persecution, 159 of whom are Crimean Tatars.
▶ The health of Crimean political prisoner Vadym Bektemirov has deteriorated. Specifically, his vision has worsened, and he has dental problems. He also suffers from pain in internal organs, high blood pressure, headaches, and panic attacks. He is currently being held in Colony No. 6 in Saint Petersburg. He was detained in 2020 following searches and accused of alleged participation in the Hizb ut-Tahrir organization. In 2022, the Russian occupiers sentenced him to 11 years in a colony.
▶ The health of another political prisoner, Server Zekiryaev, sentenced to 13 years in prison in a fabricated case, has reached a critical state. He has been diagnosed with tongue numbness and is coughing up blood. According to his relatives, he has been held in harsh conditions for a long time, including in punishment cells (SHIZO) and cell-type premises (PKT). Despite repeated requests for medical assistance, he has not received proper treatment.
▶ Following his return to Colony No. 41 in the Russian city of Yurga, political prisoner Eskender Abdulganiev was twice placed in a punishment cell. After being transferred from a colony in Kemerovo, he was initially held in a transit cell without proper sleeping conditions and later placed in SHIZO for 15 days without explanation. The occupiers detained Eskender in 2019 following searches, accused him of alleged involvement in the Hizb ut-Tahrir organization, and sentenced him to 12 years in prison.
The use of occupied Crimea as a springboard for attacks on Ukraine and the militarization of the peninsula
▶ The Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that the Russian occupiers carried out another series of massive combined attacks on the territory of Ukraine during the week. In particular, they launched over 1,200 strike UAVs of the Shahed, Gerbera, and Italmas types, as well as an Iskander-M missile, including from the territory of occupied Crimea and the Black Sea.
▶ The monitoring group Crimean Wind recorded a Russian vessel in Laspi Bay, which is likely involved in the theft of Ukrainian grain.
▶ The occupiers report the holding of a Victory Landing (Desant Pobedy) campaign, in which students and schoolchildren are involved in the maintenance of monuments related to the Second World War. Such actions are taking place in various districts of the peninsula.
The resistance movement of Ukrainian citizens in occupied Crimea
▶ Activists of the Yellow Ribbon movement recorded that the Russian occupiers are conducting an information campaign to promote the Russian messenger MAX to residents in the temporarily occupied territories.
The full-scale invasion was marked by a sharp increase in acts of solidarity and resistance by the residents of occupied Crimea against the Russian occupiers. Residents of the occupied territories unite in resistance movements, such as Yellow Ribbon, Zla Mavka, and ATESH, or act individually.
To suppress the resistance movement of local residents in the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea after February 24, 2022, the occupiers actively began to persecute and bring Ukrainian citizens to administrative liability under the article on the so-called discrediting the Russian army.
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. This is not a local or regional problem; Russia’s aggression poses a threat to the entire world and the international order.