“Resistance will continue as long as Crimea is occupied”: СTRC holds a press conference dedicated to the Day of Resistance to the Occupation of Crimea

February 19, 2025
On Friday, February 21 at 10:30 a.m., the Crimean Tatar Resource Center will hold a press conference dedicated to the Day of Resistance to the Occupation of Crimea at the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center. We invite journalists, public figures, and anyone interested to join the event.

Speakers:

Eskender Bariiev – Chairman of the Board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, member of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people;

Tatiana Savchuk – Communications Manager of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center;

Andriy Shchekun – Representative of the Regional Council of Ukrainians of Crimea, manager of educational programs of the NGO “Crimean Center for Business and Cultural Cooperation ‘Ukrainian House’.

This is the eleventh anniversary of the occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol and the third year of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. During the period of occupation, 385 people were prosecuted for political reasons, 240 people are now in captivity. Residents of Crimea, as well as residents of the newly occupied territories, are discriminated against on national, religious and political grounds, persecuted for civic activity, for posts on social networks and etc.

It is important to remind Ukrainian society about the crimes of the Russian Federation constantly, because the war began not in 2022, but in 2014, when the Russian Federation illegally occupied Crimea.

During the event, speakers will talk about the real situation in Crimea and the newly occupied territories, present visual and informational products that were prepared by the Crimean Tatar Resource Center for the Day of Resistance to the Occupation of Crimea within the framework of the information campaign #LIBERATECRIMEA, talk about national and international events dedicated to this day.

Special attention will be paid to the issue of language as a tool of struggle under occupation. After all, the language policy in temporarily occupied Crimea is part of the large-scale repression of Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar identity. The Russian occupation authorities systematically oust Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar languages from education, official document circulation and public space.

Address: Kyiv, Khreshchatyk str. 2, Kyiv

The broadcast of the event will also be available on the Facebook page  of the  Crimean Tatar Resource Center’ – https://www.facebook.com/ctrcenter.

The health condition of the Crimean political prisoner Rustem Sheykhaliev has deteriorated significantly
February 19, 2025
Rustem Sheykhaliev, a civilian journalist sentenced to 14 years in prison, was taken from the colony in Yeniseisk to the tuberculosis hospital No. 1 of the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. His wife Surie Sheykhalieva informed Crimean Solidarity about this.

Since the moment of his arrest, varicose veins on both legs began to progress. Despite numerous complaints of pain, the prison doctors refused to recognize the problem as serious, limiting themselves to ointments and pills. However, the treatment did not produce any results.

According to Surie Sheykhalieva, it was decided to send her husband to the hospital only when his legs began to turn blue, hurt more and swell. At the same time, the administration of the institution did not provide her with details about further treatment.

“Before his arrest in 2019, my husband was absolutely healthy and had no health problems,” the political prisoner’s wife said.

Back in October 2024, on a date, he told his relatives about the problems with his legs, then Surie Sheykhalieva reported that in some areas they had already turned blue, but the general condition was satisfactory.

In addition, in 2024, during the court hearings, he periodically had nosebleeds, constant headaches that were not relieved by painkillers, and chest pain. He suspected heart failure, but he was not examined or diagnosed in the pre-trial detention center.

We would like to remind that on March 27, 2019, Russian law enforcers in the occupied Crimea conducted mass searches in 26 houses of Crimean Tatars. Some activists had literature seized, which, according to Crimean Solidarity, the law enforcers themselves planted. In addition to books and brochures, people were confiscated phones, tablets, laptops and passports. The law enforcers behaved rudely.
It is reported that they used physical force against the detainees. They entered the houses with shoes on. Lawyers, who came to the place of searches, were not allowed to the defendants. As a result, 20 people were detained, who are suspected of involvement in the organization “Hizb ut-Tahrir” banned in the Russian Federation. On March 28, three more Crimean Tatar activists were detained and their homes were searched in their absence. On March 27-28, the occupation court arrested all 23 Crimean Tatar activists detained after the searches. They were granted a measure of restraint in the form of detention. Subsequently, all the defendants in the “case” were repeatedly extended the term of arrest.