In temporarily occupied Crimea, the Russian occupation authorities handed down another illegal verdict in the so-called “state treason case” against 37-year-old Niyara Ersmambetova, a resident of Nyzhnohirskyi District and mother of two minor children. Behind closed doors, the so-called “Supreme Court of Crimea” sentenced her to 15 years in a general-regime penal colony, plus an additional 1.5 years of restricted liberty, concealing the details of the proceedings under the pretext of “state secrets.”
As in many similar cases, the charges repeat the usual set of formulations used by the occupiers to fabricate “state treason” cases against Ukrainian citizens. The prosecutor demanded an 18-year prison sentence; however, after two days of so-called deliberations, the occupation “judge” imposed a 15-year sentence. The verdict was announced on 19 November 2025. The verdict was issued by the so-called “judge” Natalia Volodymyrivna Kulynska, against whom two criminal cases have been opened in Ukraine and who, during the trial of human rights defender and journalist Iryna Danylovych, demonstrated clear dependence on the FSB.
The case of Niyara Ersmambetova involves unlawful detention, which, under international humanitarian law, may constitute a war crime. This is not an isolated incident: in the past six months alone, at least three dozen people have been detained in Crimea on similar charges. The mass nature of the arrests, use of torture, denial of access to independent lawyers, and full secrecy of the “courts” cast serious doubt on the legitimacy of the charges.
Before her detention, Niyara worked as a pharmacist in a Bilohirsk pharmacy and was the sole provider for her large family. Security forces came for her in May 2025 — only seven days after the funeral of her mother. Niyara’s children remain at home: a nine-year-old daughter and a sixteen-year-old son. They are forced to live with their grandfather, the 70-year-old father of Niyara, who has a Group II disability and requires constant assistance that Niyara had previously provided.