~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 189 illegally imprisoned Ukrainian citizens, 123 of whom are Qırımtatarlar.

During the full-scale war, 2,576 Ukrainian citizens were returned to Ukraine, including 144 civilians.

The Alushta (Aluşta) ‘municipal court’ sent members of the ‘Alushta’ Muslim Community, Vilen Useinov, Zinur Appazov, and Imam Yusuf Ashyrov, to detention for ten, five, and two days, respectively.

Crimean Solidarity reports.

Useinov and Appazov were placed under arrest because of their publications in the Russian VKontakte. In 2013, Usainov published a photo of a flag depicting the symbol of Islam in Arabic: "There is no Deity but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger". The so-called Centre for Countering Extremism in Crimea (Qırım) considers this a demonstration of a ‘prohibited symbol’. 

In 2016, Zinur Appazov published a video with a flag against the background, which is "probably the symbols and attributes" of the Congress of the Peoples of Ichkeria and Dagestan. This organisation is banned in Russia.

They wanted to draw up a report against Imam Ashyrov on alleged missionary activities violating freedom of religion.

The police asked Yusuf Ashyrov to speak in the mosque the following day in support of the Mufti of Crimea (Muslim spiritual administration). He was also told that another person would lead the Friday prayers. The imam refused to collaborate this way, hence the charge of supposed ‘petty hooliganism’.

On November 25, the Russians released Ashyrov after a two-day administrative arrest. 

In June 2020, Imam Ashyrov was fined RUB 5,000 (approximately UAH 2,000) for allegedly carrying out illegal missionary activities.

Oleh Fedorov, who was sentenced to 13 years in a maximum security penal colony in Russia, reported that his eyesight had deteriorated in the Yelets prison.

This was told by his wife, Iryna Fedorova, who came with her family to visit the prisoner, Crimean Solidarity reports. 

His eyesight has fallen due to the lack of daylight. The wife said that Fedorov had lost a lot of weight, but she did not complain about the conditions of his detention. Prisoners are regularly taken for a walk.

"This was the first time he was able to see his granddaughter, who was born after his arrest," said Iryna Fedorova.

The next time the family will meet Fedorov will be in a year, as he is only allowed visits once a year. 

Ali (Oleh) Fedorov is an entrepreneur from Bakhchisarai (Bağçasaray). He was detained on February 17 during massive searches of Crimean Tatars, accused of participating in the activities of the Hizb ut-Tahrir party, which is banned in Russia. Fedorov participated in information campaigns in support of Crimean Tatar political prisoners. In Bakhchisarai, he was also the coordinator of iftar, evening meals during Ramadan. 

In July 2022, the Southern District Court sentenced Fedorov to 13 years in prison. In September 2023, he was transferred from Novocherkask to Yelts, Lipetsk region.

Oleksandr Kurdin from Bucha, who helped women and children, was abducted on March 22, 2022.

His wife, Iryna Shvets, told ZMINA.

The man was first held in Hostomel, then in Belarus. From there, he was transported to the Bryansk region. His current whereabouts are unclear.

During the occupation of Bucha, Oleksandr moved to his friend's house. There, they helped women and children hiding in one of the basements of the district. 

On March 22, 2022, Iryna could not get through to her husband. On April 3, she learned that the Russians had taken Oleksandr away.

"When the occupiers were blowing up mobile phone towers, Russians came to us in an armoured personnel carrier. Oleksandr came out of the basement to tell them not to shoot at the houses. They twisted him, handcuffed his hands and took him away in an unknown direction," said Oleksandr's friend. 

The Russians saw Oleksandr's tattoos and allegedly called him an 'Azov'. In September 2023, the Russian Federation confirmed the information about Oleksandr's detention. The man was held in Detention Centre No. 2 in the Bryansk region. Later, in May, it was reported that 700 Ukrainian prisoners had been taken to Tula and other regions. At the moment, the woman does not know the exact whereabouts of her husband.

"For some reason, the invaders call him a prisoner of war, although he has never been involved in military affairs. He is an ordinary civilian," said Iryna Shvets.

The Military Court of Appeal in Vlasikha upheld the verdict of the Southern District Military Court against Crimean Tatar Ametkhan Abdulvapov. The man was illegally sentenced to 10.5 years in a strict regime colony.

Lawyer Refat Yunus stated this: Crimean Solidarity reports.

The defence plans to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeal in cassation and supervisory review.

Ametkhan Abdulvapov was detained during mass searches in the homes of Crimean Tatars in February 2022. Marlen Mustafaiev, Ansar Osmanov, and Ernest Seitosmanov were also detained. They were accused of alleged involvement in the activities of the Hib ut-Tahrir organisation banned in Russia.

The so-called "courts" in the temporarily occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions have illegally convicted Ukrainian military personnel held captive by Russians.

The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation reports.

These are Anatolii Stronko, Volodymyr Yemelianov, Rostyslav Isaikin, Dmytro Terkhanov, Anton Babіch, Maksym Babych, Maksym Polehenko and Stanislav Voitok.

All of them are accused of allegedly killing civilians.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Yemelianov, Isaikin, Terkhanov, and Anton Babіch went missing in May 2022 in Mariupol. Stanislav Voitok went missing in April 2023 in Mariupol, and Maksym Polehenko went missing in October 2023 in Novomykhailivka, Donetsk region.

It will be recalled that Russians sentenced captured Ukrainian marine Oleksandr Svynarchuk to life imprisonment.

The Geneva Conventions of 1949 treat such "trials" of prisoners of war as a crime.