29 September 2026
Weekly update on the situation in occupied Crimea on September 29, 2026
Main News of the Week
▶ A special unit of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Prymary (Ghosts), struck a railway bridge spanning across the North Crimean Canal. In addition, radar systems, communications equipment, and electronic warfare systems were targeted. An L-39 combat trainer aircraft and three high-speed russian boats were also destroyed.
▶ An event was held at Simferopol School No. 22 featuring an active-duty pilot from the russian aerospace forces. He encouraged students to tie their future to the Russian army. The school also unveiled a so-called “patriotic corridor” dedicated to World War II, the war in Afghanistan, and the so-called “special military operation.”
▶ Sevastopol lawyer Amet Abultaïrov was sentenced to 16 years and 3 months in prison on charges of so-called “treason”; he allegedly collected and passed on to Ukrainian intelligence information obtained by intercepting radio communications. In 2024, he had already been abducted and held in complete isolation for about half a year without charges.
▶ The 26-year-old son of the so-called “governor of Zaporizhzhia Oblast” was appointed deputy to the so-called “minister of industry and trade of Crimea.”
▶ Political prisoner Tofik Abdulgaziev was transferred to solitary confinement for 10 days. A court hearing regarding his release on health grounds was scheduled for September 22, but the hearing was postponed to October 26. He suffers from serious illnesses, including a malignant brain tumor, disseminated tuberculosis, and problems with his eyesight, lungs, and heart.
Crimes Committed by the Russian Federation
▶ As of September 29, 2026, 322 people in occupied Crimea are subjected to politically motivated criminal prosecution, including 171 Crimean Tatars and 1 Karaite.
▶ russian security forces in Sevastopol detained a 32-year-old man accused of allegedly collaborating with the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. According to the occupation authorities’ investigation, he photographed and passed on information about the locations of russian Black Sea Fleet facilities.
▶ The Southern District Military Court of the russian federation sentenced a Yalta resident to 22 years in a maximum-security prison and a fine of 250,000 rubles. According to the occupation authorities’ investigation, the man allegedly collaborated with the SBU and was supposedly planning acts of sabotage.
▶ In Kerch, russian security forces detained a local resident on charges of so-called “treason.” According to russian security forces, the man allegedly collected funds and equipment for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and passed on information about the locations of air defense systems in Crimea. He faces life imprisonment.
▶ The Southern District Military Court of the russian federation sentenced a 30-year-old resident of Krasnoperekopsk (Ukrainian name: Yany Kapu) to 16 years in a maximum-security prison on charges of so-called “treason.” According to the occupying authorities’ investigation, the man allegedly passed information to Ukrainian intelligence about the deployment locations of air defense systems and the movements of the occupiers’ military equipment.
▶ In the temporarily occupied Crimea, the persecution of Yevhen Shved for his anti-war stance has been ongoing for over three years. After completing his previous sentence, he was not released but was detained as part of a new criminal case. He is currently charged with so-called “treason.”
▶ A 46-year-old resident of Simferopol was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges of so-called “treason” and involving a minor in the commission of a crime. According to the occupation authorities’ investigation, the woman allegedly photographed the documents of Russian military personnel and passed on information about the soldiers and the location of air defense systems to a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate .
The use of occupied Crimea as a springboard for attacks on Ukraine and the militarization of the peninsula
Since russia launched a full-scale invasion and spread its armed aggression throughout Ukraine, occupied Crimea has been used by russia as a military base for spreading aggression in various forms. From the peninsula, the occupiers continue to launch attacks on the territory of Ukraine, including on civilian infrastructure.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that during the past week, the occupiers carried out another series of massive combined attacks on Ukrainian territory. In particular, they launched over 1896 strike UAVs of the Shahed, Gerbera, and Italmas types, as well as Parody decoy drones, from various directions, including from the territory of occupied Crimea and the Black Sea.
The resistance movement of Ukrainian citizens in occupied Crimea
▶ In the temporarily occupied Crimea, members of the “ATESH” movement posted campaign flyers calling on people to join the partisan movement. In the flyers, they urged Crimeans not to stand idly by and to join the resistance against the russian occupation.
The full-scale invasion was marked by a sharp increase in acts of solidarity and resistance by residents of occupied Crimea against the Russian occupiers. Residents of the occupied territories are uniting in resistance movements such as Yellow Ribbon, Zla Mavka, and ATESH, or acting 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 discreditation of 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.