Crimea's FSB Charges Lviv Family with High Treason Amid Repression

In Crimea, the detained Lviv family was provided with lawyers after a week of concealing their whereabouts, and all were charged with "high treason." The head of the Mejlis called for publicity, noting that the FSB continues repressions and provocations on the peninsula.

This was reported by Suspilne.

In Crimea, on March 22, the occupation forces detained Tetyana Malyar, her brother Valentyn Malyar, her son Anatoliy Rossikhin and daughter Olga Begei. At first, they tried to conceal their arrest, and their relatives could not find out about their whereabouts.

According to the Head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Refat Chubarov, the lack of information about the detainees in the first days is an alarming signal, as such cases indicate the use of torture to obtain the necessary confessions.

Chubarov urged the relatives to make these cases public, as publicity can save people from torture.

In addition, he noted that Russian special services systematically organize provocations in Crimea. In particular, an 18-year-old boy was recently detained for allegedly setting fire to mosques. Such situations are often staged by the FSB to escalate tensions and justify repression.

All were charged with"high treason" and sent to SIZO-2 in Simferopol. The head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, Refat Chubarov, suggested that the detainees could have been subjected to torture and psychological pressure. Meanwhile, Olga Begei's two young children, 11-year-old Alisa and 7-year-old Ruslan, remained at home. The family lived in Crimea before the occupation in 2014, but now they have become victims of repression.

Also, a Crimean artist was sentenced to 15 years in prison for an anti-war action - he doused the facade of the Russian administration with blue and yellow paint. Despite the pressure and ill-treatment, he did not stop fighting, expressing his resistance through drawings and letters from prison.

In 2024, the occupation authorities opened at least 56 trumped-up criminal cases against activists, journalists, religious leaders, and anyone who expressed dissent. Since the beginning of the occupation of Crimea, 61 people have died, 29 of them Crimean Tatars.

Анна Бальчінос