07 April 2026
WEEKLY UPDATE ON THE SITUATION IN OCCUPIED CRIMEA APRIL 7, 2026
Main News of the Week
▶ The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has officially recognized the Mejlis as the representative body of the Crimean Tatar people. The Mejlis was established back in 1991. However, until now, it had not had a defined legal status.
▶ Unmanned aerial systems destroyed a base and a pre-flight preparation facility for Russian Orion-type UAVs, an An-72P transport aircraft, and a P-37 Mech radar station at the Kirovske airfield. Also this week, the Ukrainian military struck an aviation equipment storage facility in Saky.
▶ Russian Lieutenant General Alexander Otroshchenko was killed aboard an An-26 aircraft that crashed near the Belbek airfield on March 31.
▶ The Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the UA Ministry of Defense reported the exposure of individuals involved in the looting of Ukrainian heritage in the temporarily occupied territories, including Crimea.
Crimes Committed by the Russian Federation
▶ As of March 11, 2026, 286 people in occupied Crimea are subject to political persecution, 159 of whom are Crimean Tatars.
▶ A Russian “court” sentenced Ukrainian soldier Seiran Asanov to 20 years in prison. He is suspected of “high treason” and allegedly “participating in a terrorist organization.” Previously, he had joined the Crimean Tatar unit named after Noman Chelebidzhihan, which the Russians consider “terrorist.” There, he carried out missions and was later taken prisoner by the Russians.
▶ The occupiers are subjecting Iryna Danylovych to psychological pressure. In particular, they play loud music for extended periods, causing Iryna’s health to deteriorate. In April 2022, Russian security forces abducted her as she was returning home. She was subsequently convicted on trumped-up charges and sentenced to 7 years in prison, along with a fine of 50,000 rubles.
▶ The occupiers sent political prisoner Sakha Mangubi for an evaluation at a psychiatric hospital. She had previously been detained and then held for over a year at Pretrial Detention Center (SIZO) No. 2 in Simferopol.
The use of occupied Crimea as a springboard for attacks on Ukraine and the militarization of the peninsula
▶ The Ukrainian Air Forces reported that over the course of the week, the occupiers carried out another series of massive combined attacks on Ukrainian territory. In particular, they launched over 1,500 strike UAVs of the Shahed, Gerbera, and Italmas types, including from the territory of occupied Crimea and from the Black Sea waters.
▶ The monitoring group Crimean Wind reported that the 13th Ship Repair Plant of the Russian Black Sea Fleet had ceased operations, allegedly due to debts. According to the monitoring group, the occupiers previously repaired and maintained ships, submarines, and boats there. However, after the submarine Rostov-on-Don (which had been transferred to the plant following its damage) was struck again, repair operations gradually stopped.
▶ The occupiers held the final session of the “Unmanned Technologies” workshop at an educational institution in Yevpatoria. Twenty-one Crimeans from Saky, Yevpatoria, and Pryberezhne participated in the workshop. The occupation administration is raising militarization of the youth of Crimea through such regular events.
The resistance movement of Ukrainian citizens in occupied Crimea
▶ Agents of the ATESH partisan movement conducted reconnaissance and identified aircraft positions, fueling infrastructure, maintenance and repair areas, and air defense units at the military airfield in Saky.
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 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. After all, this is not a local or regional problem: Russia’s aggression poses a threat to the entire world and the international order.