17 journalists and bloggers imprisoned in occupied Crimea

In the occupied Crimea, the Russian authorities are stepping up repressions against journalists, bloggers and citizen correspondents, punishing them for covering human rights violations and their anti-war stance. Since 2014, at least 17 journalists and bloggers have been illegally imprisoned.

This was reported by the researcher of the Crimean Human Rights Group, investigative journalist Iryna Sedova during the press conference "Crimea 2025: Chronicles of Occupation and the Cost of Resistance".

According to her, Russia systematically persecutes both media representatives and ordinary citizens for any manifestations of disagreement with the occupation and attempts to speak about human rights violations.

Sedova noted that the occupation courts massively use administrative article 20.3.3 on "discrediting the Russian army". In 2025 alone, human rights activists recorded 517 such cases, in many of which people were punished for liking, reposting, using hashtags such as #RussianTerroristState, publishing the Ukrainian flag or other national symbols.

Even neutral statements, such as complaints about the lack of water or electricity, are being "discredited". According to the journalist, people are also tried for listening to songs by Ukrainian artists or singing the Ukrainian anthem during public events.

In addition to judicial persecution, the occupation authorities apply physical pressure: journalists are searched, detained, and forced to publicly apologize for their views. At the same time, Crimean residents continue to resist information, which, according to human rights activists, only leads to an increase in the number of fines and repressive cases.

The terrorist country Russia ranks 4th in the world in terms of the number of imprisoned journalists and media workers, behind only China, Myanmar and Israel and close to Belarus.

In addition, 96 abducted civilians from Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions were verified in Crimean detention centers, 31 of whom are still being held without official confirmation. In all cases, torture and other forms of inhuman treatment were recorded.

Анна Бальчінос