Ten Crimean Tatars arrested by occupants in Rykove village, Kherson region

In the occupied village of Rykove (Partizany), Henichesk district, Kherson region, Russian occupiers organized repressions against Crimean Tatars. Since the beginning of the occupation, at least ten cases of detentions have been confirmed within the framework of the so-called 'Noman Chelebidzhikhan case'.

Eskender Bariev, the head of the board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center and a member of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, said this on Facebook.

The village is located 3 km southeast of the M-18 highway. Before the occupation , almost 3,500 people lived here, and there was an elevator, several businesses, a school and a kindergarten. After the arrival of the Russian military, the peaceful village was turned into a military base, and the elevator from which the occupiers stole grain was used as an ammunition depot.

Among the detainees are 63-year-old Nasrullah Seidaliev, deputy chairman of the Kherson Mejlis, who was sentenced to nine years in prison by the occupiers, and 26-year-old Ayder Umerov, who was sentenced to six years in a strict regime colony. Rustem Virati was also arrested and sentenced to eight years, and his family learned of his death in prison in Dimitrovgrad in February 2025. Members of the Mejlis Dursun Asan and Kestan Eldar were sentenced to 3.6 years in prison, ambulance driver Lenur Khalilov to 3.5 years, and Velilyaev Kazim to 3.6 years. Among those arrested was 56-year-old Elmira Umerova, as well as 64-year-old Abdurakhmanov Belial, who was sentenced to eight years, and a driver with a disability, Seydali Smailov, who was tortured with electric shock and forced to make false statements on camera.

Bariev noted that most young and middle-aged people were forced to leave the village due to the persecution, leaving mostly elderly residents. He emphasized that these facts once again confirm that human rights violations and war crimes are the result of the occupation, and the only way to protect citizens is to de-occupy Ukrainian territories.

Катерина Глушко