Russia turns Crimea into "colossal prison" for Ukrainian captives, amid arrests in Moscow

The khpg.org post highlighted that Moscow started incarcerating Crimean Tatars and other Ukrainians from the occupied Crimea as far back as 2014. Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the peninsula has also turned into a "vast prison for citizens of Ukraine from the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions".

Olha Skrypnyk, leader of the Crimean Human Rights Group, recently stated that Russia is currently holding a minimum of 100 Ukrainian civilians, particularly those seized from the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

She noted that only the incarceration of 53 such hostages has been fully confirmed as per international standards, and their names have been submitted to the UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine.

The actual figure might be considerably higher and currently impossible to ascertain. In some instances, ridiculous accusations of "espionage" have been concocted.

During Saturday's protest by soldiers' wives held in the centre of Moscow, at least 27 individuals were arrested, predominantly journalists; amongst them were representatives of international media - reported the Kremlin-independent Russian-language portal Meduza.

The protest was arranged by the association "Road to Home" - an organisation of wives of soldiers pushed towards war by Putin's regime. Demonstrations occur every Saturday; this was the ninth consecutive one. The protest on Saturday was organised on the 500th day of conscription in Russia. The protesters assembled at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and laid flowers at the Eternal Flame. Approximately 200 people took part in the action. Prior to the protest, the Moscow prosecutor's office cautioned about the responsibility for advocating participation in "unauthorised mass events".

Meduza displayed photos and short clips depicting police officers escorting men wearing vests labelled with "Press" towards police cars in Manezh Square near the Kremlin. "Nearly all male journalists were apprehended," the SOTA channel on Telegram reported.

Among the detained were foreign media employees, including representatives from Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press, Dutch public media NOS, or the German weekly "Der Spiegel" - AFP declared. Activists from the "About human rights" movement were also "encouraged" into the police cars. They were transported to a police station in Moscow's historic district, Kitay-gorod. Meduza reported that all detainees were released shortly afterwards.

Observers stated that the police arrested seven other journalists reporting the protest near Vladimir Putin's election headquarters on Pokrovka Street; they were transported to a police station in the Basmanny district.

Source: khpg.org