12 May 2026
Weekly update on the situation in occupied Crimea on May 12, 2026
Main News of the Week
▶ Permanent Representative Olha Kuryshko signed a memorandum with Lund University in Sweden as part of the Global Coalition for Ukrainian Studies. The document outlines academic cooperation and support for Crimean Tatar studies.
▶ On May 5, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) reported that in April, the military disabled three Project 05060 assault boats, a supply vessel, a hangar for storing such boats, and a Be-12 Chaika amphibious anti-submarine aircraft. Furthermore, as part of the operation in April 2026, the DIU “Ghosts” special unit struck locomotives used by the Russian invaders to transport military equipment and fuel. They also managed to hit a communication and power hub for a Geran/Gerbera UAV relay station, a Podlyot-K1 radar station, and an MR-231-3 Vaigach shipborne radar station, among others.
▶ On May 11, 2026, the United Kingdom introduced a new package of sanctions against individuals and legal entities associated with occupied Crimea and the programs of the Russian Federation for the deportation, re-education, and militarization of Ukrainian children. At the same time, the EU introduced sanctions against the Alyye Parusa children’s center in Yevpatoriia, the Orlenok children’s center in Tuapse, and other organizations. Additionally, the EU enacted sanctions against the Patriot military-patriotic club in Yevpatoriia, which, according to the EU, operates within the framework of “military-patriotic education” programs supported by the RF.
▶ The situation with the ecosystems of the Black and Azov Seas in Crimea is becoming more complicated; specifically, fish species traditional to the region are disappearing from the peninsula’s waters. Experts indicate that this is due to the presence of the Russian Navy, the activity of aviation and weaponry, and missile launches against mainland Ukraine. The ecosystems were also affected by the destruction of the Kakhovka HPP dam by the Russian occupation army in 2023 and the fuel oil spill from Russian tankers in the Kerch Strait.
Crimes Committed by the Russian Federation
▶ As of April 23, 2026, 303 people in the territory of occupied Crimea are subject to the policy of political persecution, 164 of whom are Crimean Tatars and 1 is a Karaite.
▶ The occupation administration sentenced Igor Boiko to 18 years in a strict-regime colony on charges of so-called state treason. According to the version of the occupation court, in the summer of 2023, the man, who opposed the so-called special military operation, filmed a patrol ship and transmitted the file to an acquaintance for alleged further forwarding to a representative of the Security Service of Ukraine.
▶ Journalist Vilen Temeryanov was taken from SIZO No. 1 in Rostov-on-Don to a hospital. Temeryanov was taken for surgery to remove a lipoma; however, his wife was previously unaware of such a health problem and currently has no information on his exact location. The SIZO refused to inform her of her husband’s whereabouts, and the medical facility stated that it could provide information only upon an official request. The man was arrested in August 2022 and charged with participation in the Hizb ut-Tahrir organization, which Russia considers “terrorist.” In November 2025, a Russian court sentenced him to 14 years in prison.
▶ A Russian court sentenced Ukrainian citizen Roman Klyukin to 22 years in prison in a case of alleged espionage and participation in the activities of a “terrorist organization.” According to the Russian invaders, in October 2024 Klyukin joined the Noman Celebicihan Crimean Tatar volunteer battalion, where he served as a rifleman-medic, and in January 2025 he allegedly collected data on Russian servicemen in the Donetsk region on a “spy mission.”
The Use of the Territory of Occupied Crimea as a Military Base and Springboard for Attacks on Ukraine
▶ According to the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Russian invaders carried out another series of massive combined attacks on the territory of Ukraine during the week. In particular, they launched over 400 strike UAVs of the Shahed, Gerbera, and Italmas types, as well as Parodiia decoy drones, including from the territory of occupied Crimea and the Black Sea.
▶ The monitoring group Crimean Wind recorded two bulk carriers near the coast of Yalta which, according to the group, are awaiting permission to enter the port of Sevastopol. The group claims that the dry cargo ships are intended to pick up stolen Ukrainian grain taken from the occupied territories.
The Resistance Movement of Ukrainian Citizens in Occupied Crimea
▶ The Russian invaders continue to militarize youth on the temporarily occupied peninsula. Specifically, activists of the Yellow Ribbon movement recorded the holding of military events under the guise of sports. For example, in Sevastopol, the occupation administration held an army hand-to-hand combat tournament with the participation of about 160 children from Crimea and the temporarily occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region. Despite the declared sports format, the event was linked to military training and dedicated to the so-called special military operation.
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 invaders. 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 occupation administration 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. Since this is not a local or regional problem, Russia’s aggression poses a threat to the entire world and the international order.