The number of Ukrainian political prisoners in the Crimea and Russia is constantly growing and as of March this year is at least 68 people, whereas in December last year there were 64 people. The corresponding information was provided by the head of the Crimean Human Rights Group, Olga Skrypnik, at the conference “Prospects for the Development of the State Policy Regarding the Occupied Territories of Ukraine,” QHA correspondent...

On the day Olga Skripnik fled her home in Crimea, many of her fellow Crimeans were celebrating. On March 16, 2014, separatist leaders in the Ukrainian province rushed through a referendum on joining Russia in violation of Ukraine’s constitution. The controversial measure, which few countries recognized, passed overwhelmingly under the watchful eyes of a Russian occupation force that had seized the Crimean Peninsula two weeks earlier. As...

Lucian Kim, National Public Radio On the day Olga Skripnik fled her home in Crimea, many of her fellow Crimeans were celebrating. On March 16, 2014, separatist leaders in the Ukrainian province rushed through a referendum on joining Russia in violation of Ukraine’s constitution. The controversial measure, which few countries recognized, passed overwhelmingly under the watchful eyes of a Russian occupation force that had seized the Crimean...

A spring conscription into the army of Russian Federation that the RF intends to hold in occupied Crimea since 1 April, is illegal. As well as all previous and further conscriptions, by the way. The Crimean Resolution of UN General Assembly where Russia is clearly called occupying power has specifically ‘flavored´ this conscription and … given the Crimeans grounds to escape it.   At the same time Russia keeps on drafting the Ukrainian...

Ms Olga Skrypnyk and Ms Irina Sedova, representatives of the Crimean Human Rights Group (CHRG) told on camera at UKRLIFE.TV what a new wave of scaling back rights and freedoms had brought to Crimea: escalation of political repressions, militarization of public opinion, fake news and cultivation of hatred to Ukraine at schools. ...

Crimean residents have reported about a large number of military vehicles, which arrived in Kerch through ferry line and proceeded deeper into the peninsula. According to eyewitnesses, a train with military equipment was at the railway station on 6 August. ...

There is a new restriction among a wide range of illegal restrictions and systematic violations of human rights for political reasons in Crimea – a so-called “List of organizations and individuals, on which there are evidences that they are involved in extremist activities or terrorism”. The Federal Financial Monitoring Service of Russia (Rosfinmonitoring) makes this list and publishes on its website. ...

While many Ukrainians cheered the start of the electricity blockade of Crimea in late November and called it long overdue, Ukrainian rights activists monitoring the Russian-occupied peninsula see it only as a cause for alarm. “If prior to these actions it was possible to definitely say that Russia was the only player permanently violating human rights in Crimea, and that for the restoration of these rights it would be necessary to have the...

Crimean residents are learning to live with thawing fridges, pitch-dark highways and shuttered schools a week after Ukrainian miliants began attacking the power lines feeding the region. As Russian authorities scramble to restore power, almost 2 million people have been left without electricity. Despite the hum of generators filling the streets, most businesses have been forced to shut down or dramatically scale back their operations. Major...