Systemic persecution for anti-war and pro-Ukrainian stances in the occupied Crimea 

Residents of the occupied Crimea are regularly held liable for actions allegedly aimed at “discrediting the russian armed forces,” displaying prohibited symbols, and disrespecting russian state symbols. This was stated by CrimeaSOS analyst Yevhenii Yaroshenko during an interview for Crimea.Realities. 

The occupying power structures in Crimea continue persecuting people and accusing them of the above-listed actions. However, Yevhenii Yaroshenko notes that if the detainee is slow to respond to the demands of law enforcement officers, the article on disobedience to the lawful demands of a police officer may additionally be applied (Article 19.3 of the code of administrative offenses of the russian federation). The analyst explains that even minor actions, such as failing to provide a phone for a check within a few seconds, can be grounds for prosecution by the russian police. For such “violations,” a person may face a fine of RUB 2,000 to 4,000 or administrative arrest for up to 15 days.  

Arbitrary detentions also occur for any expression of an anti-war or pro-Ukrainian position. However, it could simply be listening to Ukrainian songs, wearing clothes or manicures in yellow and blue colours. The basis for such persecutions is often denunciations by pro-russian bloggers who publish evidence of “administrative offenses” on propaganda Telegram channels. Later, these channels publish videos of the detention of “offenders”, and after some time, staged videos with apologies from the detainees. 

 “These recordings are made after severe psychological or physical pressure from russian security forces”, –Yevhenii Yaroshenko says. According to him, detainees are forced to apologize to putin, the russian army, or society, promise to “make amends,” and even declare support for putin and the so-called “special military operation.” The sincerity of such statements is questionable, given the pressure and fear that detainees experience during the “work” of the occupation security forces. 

It should also be noted that russian security forces often broadly interpret Article 20.3.3 of the code of administrative offenses of the russian federation, which provides for liability for discrediting the use of the russian armed forces, as a result of which a person is accused of actions that do not concern the russian army. For example, a person was charged for posting a photo of Budapest in 1956, during the revolution, on a social network, where a tram had the inscription “russians, [obscene language]”. The person was fined for this post. 

At the end of August, CrimeaSOS reported at least 818 decisions on bringing to administrative liability for alleged discrediting of the russian army (Article 20.3.3 of the code of administrative offenses of the russian federation) issued by occupation courts in Crimea since the beginning of March 2022.