Court in occupied Crimea upholds sentence of 'Yellow Ribbon' activist

The Third Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction in Sochi upheld the sentence of the activist of the Yellow Ribbon movement Ksenia Svetlishina. The decision was made by Russian judge Dmitry Kotchenko, who rejected the appeal of the defense of the activist from Sevastopol.

This was reported by Krym.Realii.

According to the version of the occupation forces, the woman for several months passed information about the location of Russian military facilities in Crimea, and also left inscriptions in support of the Armed Forces and insults to the Russian president in one of the parks of Sevastopol.

The review of the case was held behind closed doors under the pretext of 'state secrets'. Human rights activists note that the defendant's data was hidden on the official website of the court, and there was no information about the time and place of the hearings. The trial was conducted by Russian judge Daniil Zemlyukov, who had previously been seconded to Sevastopol.

It is worth noting that Svitlyshyna's initial sentence, handed down in September 2024, provided for 5 years and 3 months in prison. However, the case was returned for review due to allegedly too lenient qualifications. As a result, on October 30, 2025, the Russian-controlled Sevastopol City Court increased the sentence to 13 years and 3 months in prison under the articles on 'high treason' and 'vandalism'. So far, neither the activist nor the Yellow Ribbon resistance movement have provided any public comments on this decision.

Earlier, the activists reported that in the temporarily occupied Yevpatoria, the Russian occupation authorities have tightened control at the entrances and exits of the city. According to the guerrillas, the tightening of control in Yevpatoria is due to the intensification of checkpoints. It is recorded that the security forces selectively stop cars and almost all buses, conducting a thorough inspection of trunks and personal belongings of passengers.

It is also noted that employees of the occupation administration are on duty at the checkpoints along with the Russian military. The activists urge residents to be as cautious as possible due to the intensified operation of the checkpoints.

Катерина Глушко