~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 209 illegally imprisoned Ukrainian citizens, 126 of whom are Qırımtatarlar.

During the full-scale war, 3,135 Ukrainian citizens were returned to Ukraine, including 150 civilians.

The so-called 'Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic' has 'sentenced' seven members of the Azov Brigade to more than 20 years' imprisonment and one member of the Separate Marine Infantry Battalion to life imprisonment.

The press service of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation reports.

They are Oleksandr Turchyn, sentenced to 27 years imprisonment; Maksym Cherednichenko, sentenced to 26 years imprisonment; Taras Zvarychuk, Heorhii Letiahin; Dmytro Chibukov, Oleksandr Sykylynda, sentenced to 25 years imprisonment, and Denys Dorokhin, sentenced to 28 years imprisonment.

The Russian side accuses them of ‘killing civilians’ in the temporarily occupied villages near Mariupol. 

According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, most of these servicemen went missing in Mariupol in May 2022, with Denys Dorokhin missing in July 2022. The last place he was seen is unknown.

The 'court' also convicted Pavlo Bozhko, a serviceman of the 501st Separate Marine Infantry Battalion of the 36th Marine Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He was 'sentenced' to life imprisonment.

Political prisoner Seitveli Seitabdiiev, sentenced to 14 years in prison by the Russians, does not receive medical care in the Russian prison in Yelts, Lipetsk region.

Crimean Solidarity reports this referring to Seitabdiiev's relatives. 

Seitabdiiev says that doctors do not respond to his complaints to the medical unit. He has not been able to see a surgeon or an ophthalmologist for over a month. The dermatologist he saw did not give him an accurate final diagnosis. Seitabdiiev suffers from severe itching, which causes him to tear his scalp till it bleeds, and no medications help him. In addition, the political prisoner suffers from pain in his back and elbows.

The political prisoner also says that Russian law enforcement officers who come to the prison for investigative purposes will make statements based on ethnic and religious hatred. 

A political prisoner complains about the quality of food, water and sanitary conditions. In jail, prisoners are often given pork, so Seitabdiiev has to eat only bread.

In addition, the Crimean Tatar stated that he could not call his family, as there were no staff to take him out to make calls.

It will be recalled that on March 27, 2019, Seitveli Seitabdiiev was detained in a case of participation in a 'terrorist organisation'.

On March 18, 2022, the Southern District Military Court of Rostov-on-Don delivered a guilty verdict against Seitveli Seitabdiiev and four other participants in the second Simferopol group of Hizb ut-Tahrir case. Seitabdiiev was found 'guilty' of participating in Hizb ut-Tahrir (an international political party banned in Russia - ed.) and sentenced to 14 years imprisonment to be served in a maximum security penal colony. He will spend the first five years in prison.

A Russian court has illegally sentenced a Georgian citizen who fought on the Ukrainian side to life imprisonment for allegedly committing "crimes against the Russian military".

The press service of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation reports.

The Russians claim that Mamuka Gatsareli arrived in Ukraine in March 2022, underwent training and joined the Armed Forces. He allegedly fought in Mariupol and then surrendered voluntarily. 

He was found 'guilty' of 'participation in an armed conflict and encroachment on the lives of servicemen'.

The ‘Kirovsky District Court’ in the temporarily occupied Crimea (Qırım) has fully upheld the appeal of Imam Ismaiil Yurdamov's defence lawyer against the judge's decision. Judge Giorgi Tsertsvadze dropped all charges against the religious figure.

Crimean Solidarity writes about this with reference to Yurdamov's lawyer.

On January 12, 2024, a ‘justice of the peace court’ in the village of Kirovskoye sentenced him to a fine for "illegal missionary activity".

Ismaiil Yurdamov told the court that for many years he had performed some religious rites in the village of Pryvitne at the request of the villagers and the current imam. The latter often delegated his powers due to his health and age.

The 'judge', Giorgi Tsertsvadze, accepted the complaint and satisfied it in full. The 'administrative offence' case against Ismaiil Yurdamov was closed for lack of a crime.

Vladlen Abdulkadyrov, an activist in the largest Hizb ut-Tahrir case in Crimea (Qırım), sentenced to 12 years imprisonment, has not been allowed to go for walks in the prison in Yelts, Lipetsk region, since October 2023. 

The prisoner's wife, Gulizara Abdulkadyrova, spoke to Crimean Solidarity.

The prison staff did not give Abdulkadyrov shoes. As a result, he cannot take walks. Vladlen's wife said that the administration has forbidden prisoners to have their own shoes or clothes.

Recently, the Crimean Tatar was fined for refusing to go to work. Abdulkadyrov told the prison staff that he was waiting for doctors to conduct an examination. The prison administration regarded this as a deliberate refusal rather than a valid reason and fined the Crimean Tatar a thousand rubles.

He also complained of back pain, which had been bothering him for a long time. After Vladlen was transferred to prison, his health deteriorated.

It will be recalled that on March 27, 2019, mass searches took place in Crimea. Investigative actions were carried out in Kamianka, Strohanivka and Bile — villages in the suburbs of Simferopol (Aqmescit), inhabited mainly by Crimean Tatars. The FSS detained twenty people. Three more were detained in Rostov-on-Don a few days later, and three were put on the wanted list. Later, two more Crimean Tatars were detained in this case.

In 2022, Vladlen Abdulkadyrov was sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony. The first five years of his sentence are to be served in prison.

"Justice of the peace" in Alushta (Aluşta), Yana Bykova closed the case against the imam of the Yukhary–Jami Mosque, Yusuf Ashirov. 

Crimean Solidarity reports.

On November 23, the Alushta City Court sentenced Imam Yusuf Ashyrov to two days of detention. The 'police' said he allegedly swore and drew up a report on disorderly conduct. The imam denies using foul language.

According to the lawyer, in November 2023, the imam was deliberately detained on Thursday so that he could not attend prayers at the mosque on Friday. Then, the security forces brought another imam, which caused discontent among the parishioners.

According to Imam Yusuf Ashyrov himself, his case stems from a 'raider seizure of the mosque'.

On February 15, officers of the Centre for Combating Extremism of the Russian Federation detained and took Crimean Tatar lawyer Emil Kurbedinov to the 'police' department in Simferopol (Aqmescit). There, they drew up a report against him for allegedly disseminating false information under the guise of reliable information.

Crimean Solidarity reports. 

The reason for the protocol was the lawyer's post on the Telegram channel, where he posted his observations on what was going on in Crimea.

Kurbedinov was detained after he left the ‘Ministry of Internal Affairs’ building in Simferopol.

In the temporarily occupied Crimea, Russian security forces detained human rights activist Lutfiye Zudiyeva in Dzhankoy (Canköy).

Crimean Solidarity reports. 

On the morning of February 22, her house was searched. During the searches, the Russians seized a video recorder, all phones, flash drives and a laptop. The security forces did not allow other human rights defenders to enter Zudiyeva's house.

After the search, the Russians took her to the so-called 'centre for countering extremism' in Simferopol (Aqmescit). Later, the activist was released.