According to the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, during the entire period of occupation, the number of political prisoners and those prosecuted in criminal cases reached 412 in occupied Crimea, 244 of them are representatives of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people.
Some of them have already even fully served their illegal prison terms. So, here is the list of released:
In August 2018, the political prisoner Olexander Kostenko, who served 3.5 years behind bars.
In August 2019, Olexandr Steshenko, who served 2 years behind bars.
In August 2019, political prisoner Volodymyr Prisich, who served 3 years behind bars.
In January 2020, political prisoner Rustem Vaitov, who served 5 years behind bars.
In January 2020, political prisoner Nuri Primov, who served 5 years behind bars.
In February 2020, political prisoner Oleksiy Stogniy, who served 3.5 years behind bars.
In March 2020, political prisoner Ferat Sayfullaev, who served 9 years behind bars.
In September 2020, political prisoner Nariman Memedeminov, who served 2.5 years behind bars.
In March 2021, political prisoner Gleb Shabliy, who served 4 years behind bars.
In May 2021, political prisoner Oleksiy Chirniy, who served 7 years behind bars.
In December 2021, political prisoner Renat Suleymanov, who served 4 years behind bars.
In April 2023 political prisoner Arsen Dzhepparov, who served 7 years behind bars
In May 2023 political prisoner Edem Kadyrov, who served 4 years behind bars.
In May 2023, political prisoner Aydin Mamutov, who served 4 years behind bars.
In June 2023, political prisoner Andrei Zakhtey, who served 6.5 years behind bars.
In February 2024, political prisoner Yevgen Karakashev, who served 6 years behind bars.
In April 2024, political prisoner Refat Alimov, who served 8 years behind bars.
In June 2024, political prisoner Emil Minasov, who served 7 years and 1 month behind bars.
In January 2025, political prisoner Andrei Kolomiets, who served 10 years behind bars.
In February 2025, political prisoner Rustem Abiltarov, who served almost 9 years behind bars.
In February 2025, political prisoner Zevri Abseitov, who served almost 9 years behind bars.
In February 2025, political prisoner Remzi Memetov, who served almost 9 years behind bars.
In April 2025, political prisoner Alexander Tarapon, who served 2.5 years behind bars.
In June 2025, political prisoner Vladislav Yesipenko, who served 5 years behind bars.
These men have fully served their sentences in Russian prisons. But even after their release, they are not free. Many of them still have probation or administrative supervision.
These restrictions are designed to make civilian life as difficult as possible for political prisoners after serving their illegal sentence. For example, people who are under these restrictions cannot get a full-fledged job, medical care or even social benefits. We would like to add that the Russian Federation uses absolutely all the tools of the repressive machine for exemplary punishment for showing a pro-Ukrainian position in Crimea.
It is important to emphasize that there are no former political prisoners. We must remember that these people paid for their civic position and were illegally persecuted by the occupation authorities of the peninsula.
The Crimean Tatar Resource Center demands that the Russian Federation immediately release all political prisoners.
We call on the international community to increase pressure on the Russian Federation to stop political persecution in Crimea, as well as to impose personal sanctions on those responsible for human rights violations on the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea.