On 24 April, Irene Fellin, the NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security, and Daniel Bate, Team Lead of the Human Security Unit at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, visited the Mission.

The meeting focused on human rights violations, particularly the stories of women who are political prisoners and are subjected to a policy of judicial persecution in temporarily occupied Crimea. Among them are Iryna Danylovych, Esma Nimetulaieva, Halyna Dovhopola, and Diana Havryliuk.

It is worth noting that these stories are just a few examples among many. Behind every such case stands an unbreakable woman who chose resistance to the occupation over silence and sacrificed her most precious possession — her freedom — for her stance.

During the meeting, the Permanent Representative also spoke about the Russian MAX app, which is being imposed on Ukrainians in the occupied territories, as well as the blocking of other messengers and VPN services. In this way, the occupation “administration” attempts to restrict communication with Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Lenie Umerova also joined the meeting and shared her own story of detention by Russian security forces with the NATO representatives. On 2 December 2022, Russians detained her at the Georgian-Russian border while she was attempting to enter Crimea to visit relatives, specifically her sick father, who needed care after surgery.

According to Lenie, after her detention, the occupiers threatened her and tried to impose a Russian passport on her, which she refused. In total, Lenie Umerova spent over 1.5 years in Russian captivity on a fabricated charge of alleged “espionage”. Ukraine managed to return Lenie on 13 September 2024.

She also recalled the stories of political prisoners who are still being held in Russian captivity in politically motivated cases.

We thank Irene Fellin for visiting the Mission!