100 Ukrainians accused of espionage remain in custody in Crimea

More than 100 Ukrainians are being held in occupied Crimea and the occupied territories, accused of "espionage" and "sabotage" with numerous human rights violations and torture. The occupation courts regularly hand down harsh sentences in trumped-up cases, continuing politically motivated repressions against pro-Ukrainian citizens.

This is stated in the monitoring of the human rights situation in Crimea for June 2025, prepared by the Crimean Human Rights Group.

Since the beginning of the occupation of Crimea and the war in southern Ukraine, at least 102 Ukrainian citizens have been held in prison on charges of "espionage" and"sabotage". Among them are those detained since 2014 in Crimea, as well as at least 39 people abducted after February 2022 from the territories of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions and taken to Crimean detention centers.

During the detentions, the FSB charges them with preparing sabotage, weapons possession, and espionage. In many cases, human rights violations have been recorded, including the use of torture and psychological pressure, fabrication of evidence, and the dissemination of staged video "confessions" through Russian media.

In recent months, the occupation courts have handed down a number of harsh sentences. In particular, in April 2025, a resident of Yalta, Charaz Akimov, was sentenced to 5 years in prison for allegedly passing information about Russian military equipment to Ukrainian intelligence. Similarly, other Crimean residents received long sentences for "high treason" and "terrorism."

In May, three Crimean residents accused of collaborating with Ukraine were sentenced to 15-16 years in a maximum security prison. One of them is accused of passing on information about military facilities in Krasnodar Krai, the other - the coordinates of air defense installations.

In addition, several residents of Sevastopol and Kerch were accused of collaborating with Ukrainian special services, preparing terrorist attacks and other crimes on trumped-up charges. Some of the convicts are over 70 years old.

The persecution of women continues, including Hatidze Buyukhchan, Oksana Shevchenko and others who are imprisoned on politically motivated charges.

Activists and human rights defenders emphasized that such cases are part of the systematic repression of the occupation authorities aimed at suppressing the pro-Ukrainian position and intimidating the local population.

In addition, manifestations of Ukrainian identity are severely suppressed in the occupied Crimea. More than half of the cases for displaying prohibited symbols are brought against supporters of Ukraine, accompanied by humiliation, additional charges and propaganda campaigns.

Анна Бальчінос