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On April 17, the term of political prisoner Arsen Dzhepparov’s illegal detention expired – after 7 years of imprisonment in terrible conditions in Russia, he is finally returning home. During his time in the colony, the political prisoner’s health condition deteriorated significantly, and since October 2022, he has been constantly kept in a punishment cell: https://cutt.ly/a71NNjF.
For more than 4 months now, the occupiers have been illegally detaining Leniya Umerova in Russia – one administrative arrest is immediately followed by another. Lenia was returning home to the occupied Crimea to care for her father with cancer. She was the only one on the bus with valid Ukrainian documents, which led to scrutiny and further persecution: https://cutt.ly/s7186e2.
Crimes of occupation
As of April 17, 2023, it is known that the occupiers in Crimea have illegally imprisoned 181 Ukrainian citizens, 116 of whom are representatives of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people. Out of the total number of political prisoners, 40 are arrested, 122 are imprisoned, 18 are without status, and 2 have been released but are still in the center for the temporary detention of foreign citizens in Russia.
As of April 17, 2023, it is known that the occupiers in Crimea have illegally imprisoned 181 Ukrainian citizens, 116 of whom are representatives of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people. Out of the total number of political prisoners, 40 are arrested, 122 are imprisoned, 18 are without status, and 2 have been released but are still in the center for the temporary detention of foreign citizens in Russia.
As of March 29, 301 “cases” have been opened under the absurd charge of so-called “discrediting the Russian Armed Forces”, namely Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation. Out of the total number of “cases”, the occupation courts issued 251 illegal decisions on fines ranging from 30 thousand to 75 thousand rubles.
The occupying country has also provided for criminal liability for the so-called “discrediting the Russian Armed Forces” – Articles 207.3 and 280.3 of the Criminal Code. Under these articles, 2 and 1 sentences were passed in the occupied Crimea, respectively. Details are available in our reference: https://cutt.ly/04XVfOu
Occupation “law enforcement officers” continue to “expose saboteurs recruited by Ukraine’s special services” – according to open sources, the occupiers illegally detained two residents of the occupied Crimea for allegedly participating in the Noman Celebidzhikhan Crimean Tatar volunteer battalion.
A court in Russia illegally extended the pre-trial restraint in the form of detention for Rustam Tairov, Zavur Abdullayev, Dzhebbar Bekirov and Rustem Murasov until July 23 – they are charged with allegedly “participation in the activities of a terrorist organization”.
Timur Yalkabov, illegally convicted by the occupiers, has been held in a punishment cell for 2 months now because his asthma has worsened.
Militarization of the Crimean peninsula
Civilian aircraft of the occupiers have not been flying through the airport in Simferopol for more than a year, since February 24, 2022.
Residents of the occupied Crimea continue to record the activity of Russian fighter jets firing missiles towards the mainland of Ukraine every day. They also report missile launches from the Black Sea in the same directions.
The occupiers are canceling celebrations in Crimea until May 9, and it will likely be difficult to bring in military personnel and military equipment.
According to the video in open sources, the occupiers in Crimea are preparing not for the summer tourist season, but for de-occupation – instead of people on the beaches, there are solid trenches.
According to open sources, the wife of the deceased “member of the Svo” from Feodosia appealed to the occupation administration to give her the promised land and was refused because her husband died before the date of the adoption of this “resolution.”
One of the Sevastopol universities organized training on how to handle drones at the training ground.
The beaches of Shtormovoye and Popovka (Saksky district) will be closed for swimming this summer, which means no income from tourists for the local population. In addition, Oibursk and Adzhibaychytsia lakes are also under the “ban”.
Forced mobilization
As of April 17, 2023, at least 347 Russian army soldiers have already been buried in the occupied Crimea. 240 of them were probably Ukrainian citizens. The number of burials may be higher, as many of them take place without coverage.
There are reports that the terrorist country is planning to conscript about 2,500 residents of the occupied Crimea for military service in the Russian Armed Forces during the 17th illegal conscription.
After receiving a notification of a “summons” in the public services application, in case of failure to appear at the occupation military commissariat, the Russian Federation allegedly bans travel abroad and blocks all real estate transactions and business activities.
In Simferopol, the occupiers began to open mobile recruitment centers for contract soldiers, and active campaigning for service in the Russian Armed Forces continues among the local population. We remind you of our guide on how to avoid illegal service in the aggressor’s army: https://cutt.ly/vVIJLiQ.
Propaganda of the occupation administrations and incitement to hatred
The Taliban’s occupation dog continues to harass citizens for any manifestation of support for Ukraine: last week, 4 residents of the occupied Crimea became victims, one was forced to record a “video apology”, and a case was opened against another under Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
In addition to Talipov, our citizens were also forced to record “video apologies” in Sevastopol: a woman who wrote “Glory to Ukraine” on a kiosk, a resident of Mariupol for the Ukrainian flag in her window, a Kyiv resident for state symbols in social networks, and two more citizens for anti-war comments.
The same Talipov continues to involve the heads of the occupation administrations in his “campaign” of harassment of Ukrainian citizens: he published a photo with the head of the occupation administration of Simferopol, Mikhail Afanasyev. First Yanina Pavlenko, now Afanasyev – and we are documenting everything, all of them will be tried in court.
The head of the occupation administration, Aksyonov, once again said that the occupiers had prepared the peninsula for a counteroffensive by the Ukrainian army. “There will be no catastrophe,” Aksyonov said. There will be de-occupation, we say.
The occupation administrations continue to glorify Russian soldiers: they name streets in settlements (in a village near Sevastopol, there are already 4 streets and a square), place memorial plaques on the facades of educational institutions, set up desks with photos of those killed in the war and “advertise” them, saying that sitting at such a desk is “honorable.”
At one of the meetings of the so-called “state council of Crimea”, the occupation mouthpiece Konstantinov raised the issue of decorating Odesa with imperial monuments. We advise the occupation “deputies” to discuss more realistic issues, such as how much time they have left to leave the Ukrainian peninsula.
Publications of the occupation media
A selection of this week’s propaganda messages: “there will be no new wave of mobilization, conscripts do not participate in the draft”, “we issue land certificates”, “arms supplies to Kyiv threaten a nuclear catastrophe”, “Ukraine/USA are staging provocations to blame Russia”, fakes about the plans for a counteroffensive by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, etc.
Vladimir Putin decided to award “certificates of honor” to the repairers of the illegally constructed “Crimean bridge”. After the safe dismantling of this military facility, the decree on these certificates will be the only reminder for him.
Public sentiment
According to open sources, in Yalta, in addition to the guidelines for behavior in case of UAVs, new ones on “rules of conduct during rocket and artillery attacks” have appeared. We would like to remind you that the Ukrainian Armed Forces attack only the occupiers’ military targets. Our recommendations in case of de-occupation of the peninsula: https://cutt.ly/0CxNLDn
News from Yalta Open Sources: people are starting to think about renouncing their occupation citizenship. We would like to remind you that you do not need to go through the bureaucratic hell of the Russian Federation to do this, Ukraine has not and will not recognize the forced passportization in the occupied Crimea, just wait and support the Armed Forces.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian songs are being sung on the embankments of Yalta: we came across a wonderful video of a man singing “How can I not love you, my Kyiv” in TikTok. This is the mood with which Crimeans are waiting for de-occupation!
The embankments of Alushta are not lagging behind and do not forget – they are still painted in blue and yellow.
The Yellow Ribbon, Atesh and the Crimean Fighting Seagulls continue to operate, in particular, the CCS called on Crimeans to leave messages to the occupiers on their rubles. According to the CCB activists, one of the residents of the still-occupied Crimea hung a poster of Aksyonov’s “goblin”.
The national flag of Ukraine has been flown on one of the TV towers in Feodosia – the video is available in open sources. Soon, in all corners of the liberated Crimea!
We remind our fellow citizens about the chatbot “Razom” launched by the activists of the Yellow Ribbon resistance movement – send information about the occupiers to https://t.me/zhovta_strichka_bot.
The Mission continues to receive inquiries from Ukrainian citizens who want to leave Crimea because they cannot tolerate the occupation and total propaganda. We remind you of our instructions on how to leave the temporarily occupied Crimea: https://cutt.ly/YV8zdBz
We thank the conscious Ukrainian citizens in the occupied Crimea for promptly reporting on the situation on the Crimean peninsula, in particular on the socio-economic situation, the movement of Russian troops, the movement of resistance to the occupation, etc. For more information, please send an e-mail to the Mission’s Information Support Department:
Glory to Ukraine!