Main news of the week:
▶ On August 12, the Lesia Ukrainka Museum, which had not worked for five years, ceased to exist in occupied Yalta. The occupiers turned the museum into an abstract “museum of the nineteenth century,” deliberately changing the “concept” and “format of work.” From the museum of the poetess, there are photographs in the windows, mixed with photographs of Russian figures and her small desk for work.
Crimes of the occupation:
▶ As of August 12, the occupiers have illegally imprisoned 219 people, including 133 Crimean Tatars. Of the total number, 43 are arrested (28 of them are Crimean Tatars), 151 are imprisoned (97 of them are Crimean Tatars), and 26 are without status (6 of them are Crimean Tatars).
▶ There were 943 cases of filing of reports under Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation to the so-called “courts” on the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea. In 836 of these cases, a decision was made to impose an administrative penalty in the form of a fine or to join the case to another case under another article and make a cumulative decision. In 18 cases, the consideration of materials is ongoing.
▶ 61-year-old political prisoner Azamat Eiupov, illegally sentenced to 17 years in prison by the occupiers, is denied a medical examination in a Russian prison in the Chelyabinsk region of the Russian Federation. During his stay in the pre-trial detention center, the man suffered four ischemic strokes; he asked for medical help, but received no response. Due to the lack of medical care, Azamat was unable to move around without assistance.
▶ 60-year-old Ruslan Nahaiev, who was illegally sentenced to 13 years of imprisonment, was ignored after seeking medical help despite high blood pressure and kidney pain. He was detained in June 2019 on trumped-up charges of involvement in terrorist activities, and despite his critical condition, he has not been provided with medical care.
▶ The occupation “court” refused to transfer Marlen Asanov, a civilian journalist from the “second Bakhchysarai group,” from the Correctional Colony No. 7 in the village of Sosnovka, Mordovia, which is more than 1700 kilometers from Crimea, to a colony closer to occupied Crimea, where his family lives.
▶ The occupation “court” upheld the decision of the Simferopol “court” to extend the arrest of activists from the so-called “sixth Bakhchysarai group” Aziz Azizov and Mustafa Abduramanov. They were detained on March 5, 2024, in the Bakhchysarai and Dzhankoi regions of Crimea. They were arrested the same day.
▶ In occupied Sevastopol, a “court” sentenced an activist from Kherson, Iryna Horobtsova, who has been held in the city’s Pre-trial Detention Center No. 2 for over two years. She was sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison on falsified charges of alleged “espionage.”
▶ Crimean political prisoner Zavur Abdulaiev, who was illegally sentenced to 12 years in prison by the occupiers, has not received a proper medical examination for three years. The man suffers from type II diabetes and hypertension. His eyesight is also deteriorating.
▶ The Russian occupiers are holding Crimean political prisoner Server Zekiriaiev in inhumane conditions in a Russian prison. The man has been unreasonably kept in a zone for “persistent offenders,” where ammonia and carbon dioxide emissions from the sewer system are released for several months. Due to the conditions of detention, the man’s health deteriorated: he vomited foam after eating, was constantly dizzy, and had almost no normal sleep.
Forcible conscription:
▶ At least 890 soldiers of the Russian army were buried. 707 of them were probably Ukrainian citizens. The number of burials may be higher, as many are carried out without coverage.
▶ The capture of at least 47 Russian servicemen from the occupied Crimea has been confirmed, most of whom are likely to be Ukrainian citizens.
Militarization of the Crimean Peninsula:
▶ Activists of the ATESH resistance movement conducted a reconnaissance of the occupiers’ defense system in Kozacha Bay in occupied Sevastopol. They recorded the installation of many observation posts and the deployment of short-range anti-aircraft missile systems. According to the agents, the occupiers are taking these actions to protect strategically essential facilities from UAVs, crewless boats, and cruise missiles.
Propaganda of the occupation administrations and incitement to hostility:
▶ The occupiers are forcing Zaporizhzhia NPP employees to buy vacation tickets to occupied Crimea. The main purpose of this is an attempt by the occupation administration to hide the failed holiday season on the peninsula.
▶ The occupation administration has begun the illegal transfer of the population of the Kursk region of the Russian Federation to the occupied Crimea, allegedly as part of their “evacuation”. This is a violation by the Russian Federation of Article 4 of the Geneva Convention on the transfer of population from the territory of Russia to the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea.
▶ In Sevastopol, the occupiers began to build a life-size model of the Rostov-on-Don submarine to hide the actual submarine, which was destroyed by the Defense Forces of Ukraine on August 2 and is currently hidden behind tarpaulins and camouflage.
▶ Due to the occupiers’ negligence, on August 13, several villages and towns near Yalta were left without electricity. As a result of the accident in the Feodosiia region of Crimea, 5794 residents were left without electricity. Similar problems continue to occur in the other areas of the occupied peninsula. The occupation administration assures that the situation is under control, but more and more settlements remain without electricity.
▶ The critical fuel shortage is getting worse in occupied Crimea. Many gas stations do not have A-95 gasoline, which creates severe difficulties for drivers. Despite attempts to find fuel, it is almost unavailable, and its price is much higher than the official one. The situation for the peninsula’s population is further complicated by the fact that all available gasoline and diesel fuel is used to support Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, leaving the local population without the necessary resources.
Civil resistance:
▶ A 45-year-old resident of Partenit was speaking negatively about the actions of the occupying forces on a social network. Russian security forces detained him, forced him to apologize on camera, drew up an administrative report, and sent the case file to the “court.” The man faces a fine of 30 to 50 thousand rubles.
▶ A resident of Crimea expressed waiting for the de-occupation of Crimea on social media and spoke out against Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The man was detained by Russian security forces, forced to apologize on camera, and sent to a “court.”
▶ Three residents of the Yevpatoriia region were listening to Ukrainian songs by the band Okean Elzy in the evening. Security forces detained the men, forced them to apologize on camera, and illegally placed them in a temporary detention isolator.
▶ Activists of the Yellow Ribbon movement continue to resist the occupiers in Crimea, spreading patriotic symbols in the occupied cities on the peninsula, particularly in Simferopol, Sevastopol, Alushta and Yalta, and the village of Semiiz.
▶ Activists of the Crimean Combat Seagulls continue to expose the personal data of collaborators and Russian war criminals in the occupied Crimea and spread panic among them, as well as warn the civilian population about possible Russian provocations on the peninsula. In addition, the activists debunk Russian propaganda about the alleged downing of Ukrainian missiles that regularly strike Russian military targets in Crimea. The activists also report that the 1st Motorized Rifle Battalion of the 810th Marine Brigade of the Russian occupying army from Sevastopol was almost completely destroyed in the battles against Ukraine.
▶ The Zla Mavka resistance movement continues to fill the occupied territories with patriotic inscriptions and stickers, keep diaries, and distribute a weekly newspaper that reveals the occupiers’ crimes and informs about the realities of life in the occupied territories. The activists also reported that in the occupied Simferopol, in Haharin Park, the occupiers created a “memory alley” dedicated to the dead Russian military who participated in the war against Ukraine.
Glory to Ukraine!
*Cover photo by Yellow Ribbon movement*