Every day, our compatriots in temporarily occupied Crimea continue to tirelessly resist the Russian occupiers, demonstrating support for Ukraine and trust in the inevitable de-occupation of the peninsula.

In our regular column #resistance_movement, we continue to inform you, together with the National Resistance Center, about public sentiment among Crimean residents and about the people who destroy Russian propaganda narratives.

The occupation administration systematically persecutes residents of Crimea for their support of Ukraine, expressions of Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar identity, and any criticism of the Russian occupation and military aggression. As early as 2022, Russia amended its criminal and administrative legislation to introduce penalties for so-called “discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.” This measure has become yet another tool for suppressing activists, journalists, and ordinary citizens. This week, the following cases were recorded:

• Simferopol resident Iryna Kirieieva posted patriotic messages in a messenger app, criticized the occupiers, and expressed support for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The occupiers detained her, forced her to apologize on video, filed administrative protocols, and transferred the case to the occupation “court.”
• A resident of Yalta criticized Russian occupiers in a messenger app. She was detained and is accused of “calls for extremism.” She is currently under a travel ban and faces up to five years of unlawful imprisonment.
• A 24-year-old resident of Sevastopol was accused of gathering information about the location of occupation forces and allegedly passing it to Ukrainian intelligence. The occupiers detained him, charged him with “treason,” and the occupation “court” sentenced him to 15 years in a high-security penal colony, along with a fine of 200,000 rubles (equivalent to ten minimum wages).
• A 46-year-old Yalta resident, Petro Zhytkyi, was accused of planning an attack on collaborator and former Ukrainian MP Oleh Tsariov. The occupiers detained him and unlawfully sentenced him to 24 years. He will serve the first five years in prison, with the remainder in a high-security penal colony. Additionally, the “court” imposed a fine of 800,000 rubles.
• A 30-year-old resident of Sevastopol was accused of planning to detonate an explosive device in the entrance of a residential building targeting a Russian serviceman. He was detained, and the Southern Military District Court in Rostov-on-Don unlawfully sentenced him to 17 years in prison. He will serve the first three years in a prison facility, with the remainder in a high-security penal colony.

Every day, organized resistance movements, which gained strength after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, demonstrate their resistance to the occupiers:

• Activists of the ATESH resistance movement continue gathering intelligence on occupation military sites and carrying out sabotage operations. They successfully disrupted the occupiers’ logistics by organizing an explosion on the railways in Sevastopol and destroying a relay cabinet in the Dzhankoi district. Additionally, agents of the movement report that under the guise of “training exercises,” the occupiers are conducting filtration raids in Crimea, attempting to identify pro-Ukrainian citizens.

• Members of the Yellow Ribbon movement persist in their fight against the occupiers in Crimea by destroying propaganda materials and spreading patriotic symbols, particularly in Simferopol, Sevastopol, and Yalta. The activists also carried out an action for Taras Shevchenko’s birthday, with greetings to the poet appearing on a monument in Yevpatoriia, as well as on the streets of Simferopol and Sevastopol.
• The Zla Mavka resistance movement continues documenting the crimes of Russian occupiers and exposing them to the international community, while simultaneously decorating Crimean cities with patriotic symbols. This week, they adorned the streets of Simferopol, Sevastopol, and Kerch in honor of International Women’s Day.
• Activists of the Crimean Combat Seagulls movement continue systematically collecting and publishing data on collaborators and Russian war criminals in temporarily occupied Crimea.

As of March 13, the Russian occupation administration has illegally detained 220 individuals, including 133 representatives of the Crimean Tatar people, on fabricated charges such as terrorism, extremism, and treason. These actions are part of Russia’s broader campaign of repression targeting Crimean Tatars and anyone who resists occupation or seeks to preserve their cultural and national identity. Recent cases highlight the severity of these repressions:

• Crimean political prisoner Rustem Virati, unlawfully sentenced by the occupiers to eight years in a high-security prison, has died in a Russian prison. His family was informed of his death on February 10, 2025, but the exact date and cause of death remain unknown.
• Another political prisoner, Asan Akhtemov, who was illegally sentenced to 15 years in a high-security penal colony, has been transferred to a prison in Russia’s Arkhangelsk region. According to his sister, the transfer was extremely difficult, and Akhtemov fell ill during the journey. He is currently in quarantine.
• Servet Gaziiev, a 64-year-old activist unlawfully sentenced to 13 years in prison, has been transported to a correctional facility in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskyi, Russia. The transfer took more than two months, and he is now 12,700 kilometers away from Simferopol.

The growing resistance to the occupation in Crimea is also evidenced by the increasing number of illegal administrative proceedings in the occupation “courts” under the article on the so-called “discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.” As of February 24, 2025, 1242 cases of materials drawn up under Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation were recorded in the so-called “courts” in temporarily occupied Crimea and other competent authorities. 

In 1101 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 40 cases, the materials are still being considered. Disaggregated by gender, 520 (47%) decisions were issued against women and 580 (53%) against men. In total, the aggregate amount of fines imposed has already amounted to at least 35,5 million Russian rubles.

We thank everyone for their courage and clear civic stance. Crimea is Ukraine, and we are struggling together to liberate Crimea as soon as possible and to return a sense of security to our citizens who are forced to live under occupation.

Glory to Ukraine!