"We are not numbers": testimonies about the scale of repressions in Crimea were heard in Turin

The<span><span><span><span><span><span>screening</span></span></span></span></span></span>of the film about Ukrainian political prisoners in Turin was an occasion to talk about systemic repression in the occupied territories of Ukraine, including Crimea. During the event, the latest information on the persecution of the peninsula's residents was presented and calls for their release were made.

This was reported by the Crimean Tatar Resource Center.

In Turin, the documentary Prisoners: A System of Terror by the Actività project was screened in the Column Hall of the City Council, followed by a public discussion on human rights violations in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

Particular attention was drawn to the speech of Tetyana Zelena, the sister of a Crimean political prisoner, who spoke about the fate of her brother and presented the latest data from the Crimean Tatar Resource Center on persecution in Crimea.

She noted that at this moment people are being abducted, tortured and killed for crimes they did not commit in the occupied territories of Ukraine, and added that searches, arrests and deportations to unknown destinations continue daily, and the system of repression never stops.

We are not numbers - we are real people who feel pain, fear and hope," she said.

The event was organized with the support of the Italian initiative Associazione Culturale Ucraina Libera and the Ucraina Libera association. The event was attended by the Mayor of Turin Stefano Lo Russo, journalist and former civilian hostage Oleksandr Tarasov, representatives of human rights organizations and families of Ukrainian prisoners.

During the discussion, it was reported that approximately 16,000 Ukrainians are in captivity or in places of detention, where many of them are subjected to torture and psychological pressure. Tetyana Zelena emphasized that this is a systemic problem, not an isolated case, and that repression continues every day.

She also provided statistics: 510 Crimeans are currently being prosecuted in criminal cases, including 276 representatives of the Crimean Tatar people, and at least 300 people are being held in pre-trial detention centers and colonies. Since 2014, only 12 Crimean political prisoners have returned home.

Tetyana's personal story was complemented by the story of her brother, Serhiy Likhomanov, a retired civilian and military officer, who was abducted by FSB officers, convicted in a military court, and held in a Taganrog detention center without proper medical care. She also mentioned other Ukrainians illegally imprisoned for political reasons and called on the international community to take concrete actions to ensure the release of hostages, access to humanitarian missions and punishment of the perpetrators.

The Turin City Council adopted a statement condemning the actions of Russian law enforcement agencies as possible war crimes and crimes against humanity, and promised to appeal to international organizations to demand the release of Ukrainian civilian hostages.

In 2025, the political persecution of women in Crimea and on the territory of Russia intensified significantly. At least 64 women from Crimea, as well as Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, were detained. Many of them received harsh sentences on charges that human rights activists call politically motivated.

Анна Бальчінос