Crimean occupation authorities cut off electricity to blind activist's home

On December 10, the Russian authorities cut off the electricity supply to the apartment of Igor Nikitenko, a blind activist from Dzhankoy.

According to Krym.Realii, on December 10, activist Igor Nikitenko was fined 10 thousand rubles for "incitement to hatred or enmity" for a video that contained the phrase "cotton audience". And from December 10, 60 days are counted down, during which he has to pay this fine. And it was on December 10 that Nikitenko's apartment was cut off from electricity. According to the local human rights activist, this is a way of putting pressure on the activist to force him to give up his civic activity.

"The family has no debts for electricity. They wrote an application to the power company, but there is no result. Nikitenko repeatedly called Krymenergo's hotline, left applications there, but no one responded. The boiler does not work without electricity, the house is not heated, the refrigerator does not work, and the activist's vital medicine, insulin, is stored there. There is reason to believe that in this way the activist is being pressured to give up his civic activity", - the human rights activist said on condition of anonymity.

He also told Krym.Realii that the Russian security forces have not yet returned the smartphone and computer seized from the activist.

In 2024, the Crimean Human Rights Group documented more than 150 court hearings in the context of human rights violations in Crimea and 300 court decisions under the article on "discrediting" the Russian army. In addition, the group collected information about 151 suspects in cases of calls for genocide of Ukrainians and waging an aggressive war against Ukraine, and documented 445 statements containing such calls.

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