Crimean activist taken to Russian detention center

Crimean Tatar Yashar Muedinov, who was sentenced to 13 years in prison by the occupiers, was transferred from the penal colony No. 5 in Koryazhma, Arkhangelsk region, to the pre-trial detention center No. 4 in Arkhangelsk.

This was reported by Krym.Realii, citing the words of his wife.

On December 31, 2025, 57-year-old Yashar Muedinov informed his family that he had been temporarily transferred to the pre-trial detention center (for about two weeks), after which he was to be returned to the colony. According to his wife, he is now feeling well.

Muedinov was detained in March 2019 during mass searches of Crimean Solidarity activists. The Memorial Human Rights Center recognized him and the other 23 defendants in the case as political prisoners. In November 2022, a Russian court sentenced the activist to 13 years in a maximum security colony on charges of 'terrorism' and an attempted 'seizure of power'. Yashar pleaded not guilty, considering the case politically motivated.

During his imprisonment, the man's health deteriorated significantly: he complained of a tumor and pain in his arm, dental problems and severe swelling of his legs due to varicose veins. Muedinov has repeatedly claimed that he was not provided with medical care, psychological pressure and the use of physical force by the warders in the Ulyanovsk region. In July 2025, after being transferred to the Arkhangelsk region, he was hospitalized due to an illness he contracted during transportation.

Earlier it became known that the health of Crimean Tatar political prisoner Tofik Abdulgaziyev, who is illegally detained in Russia, has critically deteriorated. During the last communication with his wife, he said that he began to lose consciousness.

"Tofik constantly tries to stay near the bed in case of sudden loss of consciousness. I appeal to everyone to pay attention to the situation with my husband. I demand the release of my husband," - Tofik Abdulgaziyev's wife said.

Despite the fact that Tofik Abdulgaziyev was sentenced in 2023 to 12 years in a strict regime colony on trumped-up terrorism charges, his health condition is officially incompatible with further imprisonment. The lawyer and his family have been trying to secure his release for a long time, providing the court of Chelyabinsk region with all the necessary medical reports. However, the Russian judicial system continues to ignore the threat to the man's life: in August 2024, he was already denied early release, and the date for consideration of new petitions has not yet been set.

Катерина Глушко