Russian Forces Surround Trailer of Crimean Tatar Veteran Rustem Useinov

In the Crimean village of Morske near Sudak, Russian security forces have surrounded a trailer where Rustem Useinov, a veteran of the Crimean Tatar national movement, lives.

According to the head of the Mejlis Refat Chubarov, Usainov had previously built a house on the site where the trailer is now located, but in November 2021, the Russian authorities demolished it.

"However, Rustem ag'a, defending his rights, installed a residential trailer on the site of the illegally demolished house, where he lived permanently, but did not have time to formalize it until 2014, when Russia occupied Crimea. In November 2021, the house was demolished by Russian punishers. However, Rustem ag'a, defending his rights, installed a trailer on the site of the illegally demolished house, where he lived permanently," Chubarov said.

According to him, judging by the number of vehicles and armed men who were dragged by the Russian occupiers to the embankment of the village of Qapsihor (Morske) on the morning of March 20, 2025, the occupation authorities may demolish the trailer as well.

In 2021, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine condemned the demolition of the veteran's house. The Representative Office of the President of Ukraine in the ARC called for "an end to repression" against people in Crimea. Usainov himself told reporters that he did not plan to leave Morske and would continue "the struggle for the right to live in his native land."

In 2024, at least 56 illegal or dubious criminal proceedings were opened against civil society activists, journalists, religious leaders and all dissidents in Crimea. The FSB also opened criminal cases against at least six Crimean residents under the article on public calls for extremist activities. Some of them were prosecuted by the occupiers for allegedly calling for violent actions against Russians on social media, others for allegedly calling for the murder of Russian soldiers or for anti-Russian and anti-government slogans.

"In addition, after a long arbitrary detention in a pre-trial detention center, the occupiers accused Kherson activist Irina Gorobtsova of espionage and Lyudmila Kolesnikova, who came from Ireland to attend her mother's funeral, of treason," CrimeaSOS added.

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