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 about the civil stance of Crimean residents and about the people who destroy Russian propaganda narratives.

Russia persecutes Crimean residents because of their pro-Ukrainian stance and manifestations of Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar identity. In order to suppress the resistance and unwillingness of people to accept the occupation, in 2022, Russia adopted amendments to the criminal and administrative codes, which provide for liability for the so-called “discrediting the armed forces of the Russian Federation”. The following recent cases are illustrative:

• A 10-year-old schoolgirl from the city of Saky posted a video on social media that “discredits” the Russian army and defaces the Russian flag. The occupation administration filed an administrative protocol against her mother under the charge of “failure to fulfill duties regarding the care and upbringing of minors” and forwarded the collected materials to the local administrative commission on juvenile affairs in the occupied city.
• A resident of Sevastopol spat on the car of participants in the so-called “special military operation” in a public place. The occupiers detained the man, forced him to apologize on video, and submitted materials to the illegal “court,” where he now faces a fine of 30,000 to 50,000 rubles (equivalent to two or three minimum wages).
• In the village of Vodne, Simferopol district, a local resident publicly expressed hope that the Armed Forces of Ukraine would come to liberate Crimea and shouted patriotic slogans, including “Glory to Ukraine.” The occupiers detained the man, filed a protocol, and are considering a criminal case against him.
• A Sevastopol resident voiced support for the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ offensive on the Kursk region while at work, in front of his colleagues. The occupiers detained him, and the so-called “court” fined him 40,000 rubles.
• In occupied Yalta, a woman who had come from abroad for her mother’s funeral was detained directly at the cemetery. The occupiers accused her of “state treason” over her purchase of two NFTs depicting the “Russian warship” two years ago.

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 from the ATESH resistance movement continue gathering intelligence on occupying forces’ military sites, including reconnaissance of Russian military vessel locations in Sevastopol’s Streletska Bay, with information related to relevant Ukrainian services.
• The Yellow Ribbon movement activists persist in resisting the occupiers in Crimea by destroying propaganda materials and spreading patriotic symbols across occupied cities on the peninsula, including Simferopol, Sevastopol, and Novooserne. Additionally, activists have conveyed messages from mainland Ukrainians to people living under occupation, shared via the “Yellow Ribbon” train.
• Crimean Combat Seagulls activists continue exposing the personal data of collaborators and Russian war criminals in occupied Crimea.
• The Zla Mavka resistance movement continues to keep detailed diaries, publish weekly reports exposing occupiers’ crimes, and spread patriotic symbols, particularly in Simferopol and Alushta. Additionally, the activists fill the streets of Crimea with verses from Ukrainian poetry, including lines by Taras Shevchenko and Mykola Mikhnovsky.

We should not forget about political prisoners who, even in inhumane conditions of detention, demonstrate resistance to the occupation regime.

• The military court in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, has extended the detention of six Crimean Tatar activists from Bakhchysarai: Abdulmedzhyt Seitumerov, Seidamet Mustafaiev, Ruslan Asanov, Ametkhan Umerov, Remzi Nimetulaiev, and Eldar Yakubov. The Crimean Tatars will remain in custody until February 23, 2025.
• Asan Yanikov, who was illegally sentenced to 15 years, is being denied phone calls and the majority of his mail. Additionally, following an assault by two guards in April this year, his bread ration was reduced by 2-3 times, leading to rapid weight loss for the political prisoner.
• Rustem Huhurik, also unlawfully sentenced, is losing his hearing in the penal colony and is being denied heart medications despite increasing shortness of breath. It has also come to light that the political prisoner is held in a barrack designated for individuals “prone to terrorism.” Over the past six months, he has been placed in solitary confinement three times.
• Osman Arifmemetov, a citizen journalist and activist also unlawfully sentenced, has lost 22 kilograms in Minusinsk prison, located in Russia’s Krasnoyarsk region. All detainees in the prison are served pork, which the Crimean Tatar refuses to eat due to his religious beliefs.

New illegal administrative proceedings in the occupation courts of Crimea under the article on the so-called “discrediting the Russian Armed Forces” also testify to the growing resistance. As of September 20, 2024, 979 cases of materials drawn up under Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation were recorded in the so-called “courts” in the temporarily occupied Crimea and other bodies. In 875 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 17 cases, the materials are still being considered.

Disaggregated by gender, 377 (43%) decisions were issued against women and 497 (57%) against men. Overall, the total amount of fines imposed already amounts to at least 26.4 million Russian rubles.

We thank everyone for their courage and clear public stance. Crimea is Ukraine, and we are fighting together to return the Crimean Peninsula to Ukrainian control as soon as possible and to bring a sense of security to our citizens from the temporarily occupied territories.

Glory to Ukraine!