With each passing day, more and more Ukrainian citizens in the occupied Crimea demonstrate resistance to the occupation regime and voice their support for mainland Ukraine. This resistance has significantly increased since the start of the full-scale invasion.

In 2022, the Russian Federation approved amendments to the Criminal and Administrative Codes, which provide for liability for the so-called “discreditation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation” to suppress this resistance and people’s unwillingness to tolerate the crimes of the occupiers. The Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea observes the related court decisions in the occupation registers.

By April 15, 2024, 780 cases of reports submitted under the article (20.3.3) of the Administrative Code were recorded. In 680 of these cases, a decision was made to impose an administrative penalty in the form of a fine or to join another case under another article and make a combined decision. In 24 cases, the materials are still being examined. Including all aspects, the aggregate amount of fines imposed has already reached at least 21.6 million Russian rubles. 

Out of a total of 680 rulings, 279 (i.e. 41%) were issued against women, while the remaining 401 (i.e. 59%) were issued against men. Thus, almost every second person who is persecuted in the occupied Crimea for solidarity with mainland Ukraine, as well as subjected to pressure and threats from the Russian occupation forces, is a woman. 

The reasons for these illegal detentions are posts and comments on social networks in support of Ukraine, spreading patriotic Ukrainian songs, and Ukrainian state symbols, condemnation of the Russian Armed Forces, etc. The following recent cases are illustrative:

• In the occupied village of Hrushivka, Feodosia district, security forces detained a local teacher who posted on her Instagram page the state emblem, national flag and slogan “Glory to Ukraine”. The woman was forced to apologize on a video, and she was fired from school. 
• In the occupied city of Sudak, the local female resident was detained for publishing posts criticizing the Russian occupation forces and Putin on her social media. During the illegal arrest, a large amount of national flags and symbols of Ukraine were found in the woman’s home.
• A woman from the occupied Yalta was detained for posts on social media criticizing the occupation administration and occupation forces. 
• In occupied Simferopol, a local resident was illegally arrested for 5 days and fined 30,000 rubles for criticizing the occupiers and Putin on social media, posting Ukrainian symbols and Ukrainian songs, and speaking in support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The woman was forced to apologize on camera.
• The occupiers illegally detained a woman who was allegedly going to set fire to a switch cabinet at a railway station to prevent the movement of occupation military equipment. The occupiers opened a falsified criminal “case” against the woman for allegedly “preparing a terrorist act”.
• The Russian “Crimean Border Guard Service” together with the “Centre for Combating Extremism” detained a woman who spoke out against Putin and the Russian Armed Forces on social media, supporting the Armed Forces and the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Currently, the occupiers have illegally detained the woman for 10 days, and three “protocols” have been issued against her. She was also forced to apologize on camera.
• The occupation “court” fined a retiree in Feodosia 30,000 rubles for publishing posts in support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and negative statements against the occupation regime on social media.
• Three residents of Simferopol were unlawfully convicted for publishing the song “Red Viburnum” (“Chervona kalyna”), a Ukrainian patriotic song, on social media. One of the detainees was forced by Russian security forces to apologize and show support for the occupational army of the Russian Federation on video. 
• The occupation “court” fined a Crimean resident for posting on social media information about the liberation of Kherson from the occupiers. The Russians interpreted these words as “discreditation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation” and unlawfully fined the woman 30,000 rubles.
• Also in occupied Crimea, residents continue to be persecuted after the so-called “Putin’s elections”. Thus, in the village of Simeiz, the occupation “court” brought to justice a resident who wrote on the ballot that she was waiting for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. During the so-called “elections” in Simferopol, a protester poured brilliant green into a ballot box. In response, the occupiers opened an unlawful criminal case against the woman.

These cases once again demonstrate that women in Crimea resist the occupation regime, are powerful and valiant, and the heroic deeds of Ukrainian citizens deserve recognition. 

Every day, the activists of the “Zla Mavka” movement demonstrate their resistance to the occupiers by spreading patriotic stickers and leaflets in the occupied cities of Crimea, keeping their occupation diaries, disseminating a weekly diary of the occupiers’ crimes, as well as painted banknotes reminding that Crimea is Ukraine. The activists of this movement, risking their safety, distribute these and other materials in the occupied cities in defense of the Ukrainian resistance and the fight for their rights. They take advantage of the deep-rooted misogyny of the occupiers, who never suspect that women can play an active role in the resistance movement and bring Ukraine’s victory closer.

You can read about other cases of prosecution of women under the so-called article “discreditation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation” in the occupied Crimea in our brief.