“Recently learning about the illegal arrest of yet another Crimean Tatar (a soldier in the Armed Forces of Ukraine), I was once again convinced of the cynicism of the Russian repressive machine. Only one thought flashed through my mind: ‘They don’t just hate us fiercely, they are inexpressibly afraid of us’. That is the only way I can explain the sentence handed down to the Crimean Tatar, Ukrainian Armed Forces serviceman Eskender Kudusov,” wrote Bariieva.
Eskender Kudusov was convicted on trumped-up charges under Article 356, Part 1, Clauses “a,” “g,” and “d” of Part 2 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Part 3 of Article 69 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and Part 5 of Article 69 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
“The occupiers requested 33 years of arrest, but he was ultimately sentenced to 29 years and 6 months for crimes he did not commit. They added everything they could and could not to send the man to prison, depriving him of his freedom for many years. You understand that the Geneva Conventions, resolutions, etc. are of no use to them… They have their own special legislation there, from the category of ‘I do as I want, I judge as I wish…’,” she emphasized.
41-year-old Eskender Kudusov devoted 23 years of his life to the Ukrainian army. He began his service at the age of 18 in Zaporizhia, after his family returned from deportation to Crimea. He subsequently served as part of the Ukrainian peacekeeping contingent in Iraq (2004) and Kosovo (2009), and until 2014 as a marine in Feodosia. After the occupation of Crimea, he remained loyal to his oath and continued to serve in Mykolaiv.
” In 2014, he was among those marines who did not betray Ukraine and their oath of allegiance to the Ukrainian people. The full-scale invasion caught Eskender in the Donetsk region — on the front lines, where he and his comrades held back the enemy who was rushing towards Mariupol,” -Bariieva noted.
His wife received the last message from him on March 27, 2022 — a text message saying, “Everything is fine with Eskender.”
“Everyone who closely followed the events of those days remembers that on April 12, 2022, Ukrainian troops tried to break out of the encirclement of Russian occupiers. Many Ukrainian soldiers were taken prisoner at that time. Eskender, in a group of four people, took the initiative to walk 26 km on foot in the hope that they would be able to break out of the encirclement on their own, but nevertheless, on April 16, they were captured,” added the CTRC manager
. On April 16, 2022, he was made captive. In 2023, the occupation “court” sentenced him to 25 years in prison, and in 2024, on the Day of Defenders of Ukraine, the term was increased to 29 years and 6 months.
“”For three years and six months now, Eskender Kudusov has been held captive. All this time, Eskender was held in a pre-trial detention center in occupied Makiivka, Donetsk region, and was recently transferred to IK-8 in Kirovskoye, Donetsk region. If you look at all the criminal cases brought by the occupiers against Crimean Tatars during the 12 years of occupation, this is the longest term, which is practically comparable to life imprisonment,” – she stressed.
Esender Kudusov is currently being held in Penal Colony No. 8 in Kirovskoye (Donetsk region).
“I sincerely hope that the Ukrainian authorities will do everything possible to free Eskender Kudusov — a Crimean Tatar representative of the indigenous people, Eskender Kudusov — a soldier who gave 23 years of his life to the Ukrainian army, Eskender Kudusov, a marine who did not betray his country in 2014, Eskender Kudusov, who from the first days of the full-scale invasion, without pompous photos and posts with weapons in his hands on Facebook, was on the front line, holding back the enemy with all the means available at that moment… After all, two minor children are waiting for him at home, who want to hug their father and live, like thousands of other children, under a peaceful sky in their Ukrainian Crimea,” – summarized Zarema Bariieva.