Russia illegally detains ~20,000 Kremlin prisoners

According to the data of the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, this is the number of civilians abducted by the Russian Federation. This estimate is based on the number of appeals from relatives of abductees received by the Commissioner.

The Media Initiative for Human Rights has identified about 100 places where abducted civilians are held.

The Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea confirms 182 illegally imprisoned Ukrainian citizens, 60% of whom are Qırımtatarlar.

Russian security forces have been holding Crimean nurse and activist Iryna Danylovych in a detention centre for over a year without providing her with medical care. As a result, her ear disease is progressing.

Bronislav Danylovych, the activist's father, told Crimean Solidarity about this.

It will be recalled that Russians illegally detained Danylovych in April 2022. In December of the same year, the occupation court in Kefe (Feodosiia) sentenced the woman to seven years in prison in a falsified case of explosives possession. The defence filed an appeal against this decision.

The prisoner had long complained of ear pain, headaches, and dizziness. Russians kept Danylovych in a detention centre and did not provide her with medical care. On March 22, 2023, she went on a dry hunger strike until either treatment or biological death. Later, Russians promised to organise some treatment but did not fulfil their promise.

Now Danylovych cannot hear in her left ear.

Volodymyr Yakymenko has been imprisoned by Russian Federation for six years. He refuses to work for the Russian economy, which is why the Russians sent him to a punishment cell.

The Association of Relatives of Political Prisoners of the Kremlin reported this.

It will be recalled that Volodymyr Yakymenko was detained by Russians in 2017 when he was crossing the administrative border of Crimea. Yakymenko is an activist who helped the Ukrainian military leave Crimea during the occupation of the peninsula. After his arrest, he was tortured by Russians and sentenced to 15,5 years in prison.

Since then, he has refused to work in the prison because he does not want to contribute to the Russian economy. Despite this, in May, the prison administration stated in its documents that he had been working for two months.

Yakymenko protested. As a result, he was sent to the punishment cell until at least June 8. The punishment isolation unit is part of the colony with the most severe conditions of detention.

Russians tried Bohdan Ziza for terrorism, even though he had poured yellow and blue paint on the building of the temporary occupation administration.

The "We Bogdan Ziza" initiative announced the verdict on their social media.

It will be recalled that Bogdan Ziza is a Crimean artist who poured yellow and blue paint on the temporary occupation administration of Kezlev (Yevpatoriia) on May 16, 2022. The next day, he was detained by Russian security forces.

After that, he was beaten and forced to record five "apology" videos. As a result, terrorism charges were fabricated against him.

Earlier, the Russians had illegally granted Ziza Russian citizenship. He wants to renounce it. On June 10, the prisoner will start a hunger strike.

The Crimean Tatar activist has temporarily left the occupation. During her absence, the security forces have already searched twice for the woman in her parents' home, although they know she is not there.

The activist reported this on her Facebook page.

On June 1, the occupation police lieutenant Akhmedov came to Qırımlı's parents. He explained his actions with Article 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, according to which law enforcement officers have the right to check information on preparations for crimes. At the same time, the lieutenant admitted that he had no evidence of a crime.

Instead, he had to check whether the activist was living at that address. This is the second such visit since Qırımlı has temporarily left Crimea, which the Russians cannot fail to know.

Yaroslav Zhuk, a resident of Melitopol, has been in captivity since the summer of 2022. During this time, he has repeatedly reported torture.

This time, Zhuk's statement was published by the Crimean Process initiative.

It will be recalled that on June 17, 2022, an explosion rang out near the Melitopol Industrial and Economic College. Russians blocked the passage of all cars near the scene. They also stopped the car in which Yaroslav Zhuk was. The man was taken out of the car, put on his knees, and detained. After that, he was tortured and forced to record a video in which he defamed himself. Later, Russians took the man to the temporarily occupied Crimea, where he was accused of allegedly "international terrorism."

He is currently being held in a detention centre in Rostov. He stated that on May 30 and June 5, 2023, he was tortured again: beaten with feet, tased, and doused with water.

Melnychuk was abducted in the temporarily occupied Crimea in autumn 2022. It was not previously known where he was being held.

ZMINA Human Rights Centre reported Melnychuk's fate.

Melnychuk was born in Aqyar (Sevastopol), where he lived in 2014. When Russians blocked the military units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, he helped the Ukrainian military. After that, he lived in the Kyiv region, where he fought against illegal deforestation and was the victim of a number of attacks.

Allegedly, in October 2022, the man was detained in the temporarily occupied Crimea, accused of photographing military equipment. Since then, he has been held in detention centre No. 2. Melnychuk is in the same cell with Spanish citizen Mariano García Calatayud.

Previously, the Russians accused Prykhodko of allegedly preparing a terrorist attack and contempt of court. This time, he was charged with justifying Nazism.

This is evidenced by the statement of the Russian security forces.

It will be recalled that in 2021, a Russian court sentenced Prykhodko to five years in prison in a fabricated case of preparing a terrorist attack. In 2022, another court added another month to his sentence for "contempt of court": during the hearing of the previous case, Prykhodko had used foul language about the FSB operative who had planted explosives on him. At the end of May, another case was reported, but its content was not known.

Later, the Russian security forces stated that the case was initiated for "publicly expressing support for Hitler and his allies." This allegedly happened in February 2022 in the Vladimir Central prison, where Prykhodko is being held.

Under this article, Russians can sentence him to another three years.

Security forces said the so-called "Kirovskyi District Court" had imprisoned a man for 2 years for "membership in an illegal armed group." This is about Osman Kadyrov.

This is evidenced by the statement of Russian propaganda.

The court register shows that on June 1, this "Kirovskyi District Court" passed a "verdict" against Osman Refatovych Kadyrov.

Russian financial monitoring included a person with this name in the list of extremists in January 2023. The list contains information that this person was born in Uzbekistan, where the Soviet authorities deported Crimean Tatars in 1944.

Since 2002, Osman Kadyrov has been the head of the village council of Qızıl Terçek (Yarke Pole) in the İslâm Terek (Kirovskyi) district.

Security forces claim that Kadyrov has allegedly pleaded guilty.

Russians illegally sentenced prisoners of war Roman Kosenko and Mykola Guzema.

This is evidenced by statements by Russian security forces.

A "court" of the illegal armed formation "DPR" sent a Mariupol defender and a marine, Roman Kosenko, to prison for 17 years. They fabricated charges of the "cruel treatment of civilians."

The "court" of the illegal armed formation "LPR" passed a "sentence" of 21 years in prison against Mykola Guzema, a soldier of the 57th Otaman Kost Hordiienko Motorized Brigade. For this purpose, they fabricated charges of the "cruel treatment of civilians."

In both cases, the Russians forced prisoners of war to testify against themselves under pressure. Such testimonies are recorded on video and used as "evidence."