~Russia illegally detains 25,000 Kremlin prisoners
According to the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, this is the number of civilians abducted by the Russian Federation.
The ZMINA Human Rights Centre has found that at least 21 prisoners require urgent medical care and may die unless they receive it.
During the full-scale invasion, the National Police began investigating the enforced disappearance of 8,800 people. Russian Children's Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova claims Russia has illegally abducted over 700,000 children from Ukraine.
The Media Initiative for Human Rights has identified about one hundred places where abducted civilians are held.
The Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Qırım) confirms 217 illegally imprisoned Ukrainian citizens, 132 of whom are Qırımtatarlar.
During the full-scale war, 3,597 Ukrainian citizens were returned to Ukraine, including 167 civilians.
The Court of Cassation in Russia upholds the sentence of political prisoner Yashar Shykhametov
Crimean Solidarity informs.
The Crimean Tatar Yashar Shykhametov was sentenced to 11 years in prison by a 'court' in Russia for 'terrorism' in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case. During searches, allegedly banned literature was found. In 2023, the appeal court in Vlasikha upheld the activist's sentence.
Yashar Shykhametov suffers from a serious illness. Even during the appeal, he was carried out of the courtroom on a stretcher due to serious back problems. The elderly political prisoner also complained of pain in his heart and kidneys and noted that he could not hear what was being said in court.
Three Ukrainian cannoneers sentenced to 16 years in prison in temporarily occupied Donetsk
The Zmina Human Rights Centre informs.
The so-called 'Supreme Court of the DPR' sentenced Ukrainian soldiers Danylo Vereshchak, Artur Sharamok and Artem Batiuk to 16 years in a maximum security prison for allegedly ill-treating civilians and deliberately damaging other people's property. The charges relate to the shelling of a public road bridge over the Kalka River in the Donetsk region.
Danylo Vereshchak, Artur Sharamok and Artem Batiuk are members of the 55th Artillery Brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces.
Prisoner of war Oleksii Kyrkalov's life sentence increased by 18 years in a colony
The Zmina Human Rights Centre informs.
In the temporarily occupied Donetsk, a so-called 'court' sent a prisoner of war of the Ukrainian Azov Brigade, Oleksii Kyrkalov, to a penal colony for alleged robbery, theft of other people's property and ill-treatment of civilians. He was sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment.
In May 2023, the same 'court' in Donetsk sentenced Oleksii Kyrkalov to life imprisonment. He was accused of killing a Russian POW by shooting him in the back of the head. Oleksii Kyrkalov denied his guilt.
Ukrainian Vladyslav Bilyi to be tried for alleged espionage in occupied Henichesk
The 'prosecutor's office' of occupied Crimea (Qırım) has approved a guilty verdict against Ukrainian Vladyslav Bilyi and sent his case to the 'court' in temporarily occupied Henichesk.
The Zmina Human Rights Centre informs.
Vladislav Bilyi is accused of espionage for the alleged benefit of the Ukrainian special services. Bilyi faces a prison sentence of 10 to 20 years. In March 2022, he allegedly collected information on the location, time and movement of the occupying forces in the Kherson region and passed it on to the Security Service of Ukraine. The data provided by Vladyslav Bilyi could have been used by the Ukrainian military to launch attacks on the positions of the Russian army.
The 'court' in Crimea declares illegal the refusal of the Russian penitentiary system to transfer Arsen Abkhaiirov closer to his home
Crimean Solidarity informs.
Crimean Tatar Arsen Abkhaiirov was sentenced to 13 years in prison for 'belonging to a political organisation banned in the Russian Federation' in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case. He is currently serving his sentence in a penal colony in Buryatia, some seven thousand kilometres from Crimea (Qırım).
Previously, Arsen Abkhaiirov's wife had repeatedly applied to the Russian penitentiary authorities for him to be transferred to a prison closer to her home but had been refused. The political prisoner's wife then appealed to the court to recognise this refusal as illegal.
Political prisoner Oleksandr Syzykov is sentenced to 17 years imprisonment
Crimean Solidarity informs.
Oleksandr Syzykov was detained in 2020 in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case. He was placed under house arrest due to vision problems.
On May 17, 2023, the Southern District Military Court sentenced Oleksandr Syzykov, who is blind, to 17 years in prison, with the first four years in prison. On September 13, 2024, the Court of Appeal upheld Sizikov's 17-year prison sentence. On September 14, Russian security forces took Syzykov to an unknown destination. He is currently in a pre-trial detention centre in Bakhchisarai (Bağçasaray).
Political prisoner Eldar Kantymirov is prepared for transfer to Buryatia
Crimean Solidarity informs.
Crimean Tatar Eldar Kantymirov was arrested in 2019 during a single picket in Alushta demanding respect for the rights of Crimean Tatars. In 2021, he was charged with terrorist activities in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case and sentenced to serve his sentence in a maximum security colony. The military court of appeals in Vlasikha and the court of cassation did not change his sentence.
Eldar Kantymirov is currently being held in prison in the Ulyanovsk region of the Russian Federation. The manner and timing of his transfer to the Buryat colony is unknown.
