Life Before Detention

Farhod Bazarov was born on August 22, 1986, in the city of Shakhrysabz, Uzbekistan, into a family where his father worked as the director of a construction company and his mother as an accountant in the local construction and installation department.

In 1992, when Farhod was six years old, he returned from deportation to Crimea with his mother and other family members. His father remained in Uzbekistan. The following year, the boy began attending School No. 33 in Simferopol.

After graduating from school in 2003, Farhod began working in construction to support his family. At the time, his mother required constant care and medical supervision following heart surgery. He worked in finishing and decorative construction.

In 2008, Farhod married Fatima Yanikova. The couple is raising four children.

Persecution

On March 27, 2019, the largest illegal searches of Crimean Tatars’ homes took place in Simferopol. That morning, the occupying forces raided Farhod Bazarov’s home. Alongside him, more than two dozen other activists were detained. All those arrested were transferred to pre-trial detention centres in the Rostov region.

On March 10, 2022, a court in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, sentenced Farhod Bazarov to 15 years in prison on fabricated charges of allegedly participating in a “terrorist organization.”

Behind the bars

It is known that after Russia’s full-scale invasion and mobilization in 2022, the prison administration attempted to involve inmates in work serving military needs. Farhod Bazarov was included in lists of those who could be forcibly sent to labour tasks related to the maintenance of military facilities. However, according to human rights defenders, he refused to participate, which may have led to additional reprisals by the prison administration.

In August 2023, it became known that Farhod Bazarov was held in a maximum-security colony in Balashov, Saratov region. He remained there until July 9, 2025, when he was transferred to a cell-type facility in a colony in Bezhitsk, Tver region. This placement is scheduled until December 9, 2025.

Throughout this entire period, punitive sanctions have been imposed on him. In May 2025, he was sent to solitary confinement for ten days for allegedly “violating rules” – Farhod had lain down on a bench and fallen asleep because his sleeping place was locked. In June, he was punished even more severely with 25 days in solitary confinement.

Like hundreds of other Crimean Tatar political prisoners, Farhod Bazarov has become a victim of persecution based on his religion and ethnicity. Yet despite all these hardships, Farhod Bazarov remains a symbol of resilience and dedication to the Crimean Tatar people, who continue to fight for their freedom and dignity even under the harshest conditions.