Contents tagged with crimea

  • Human rights group: Elections in Crimea could lead to new wave of repression

    The electoral process in the annexed Crimea could lead to a new wave of repression if the Crimean people publicly express their opposition to it, the chairperson of the Crimean Human Rights Group, Olha Skrypnyk, said in comments to independent Ukrainian radio broadcast Hromadske.

    “The so-called election process in the Crimea may lead to a new wave of repression. If people are going to publicly disclose or write that they do not agree with these elections, urging people not to go to those …

  • Human rights group: Russia is forcing Crimeans to participate in election

    The authorities of Russian-occupied Crimea are forcing people to participate in the elections to the State Duma using threats of dismissal or decrease in wages in the event of failure to comply. Crimean Human Rights Group representative Olha Skrypnyk described the situation on 112 Ukraine TV.

    "We have several complaints about the fact that the de facto "Crimean government" uses the so-called administrative resources to force people to go to these elections, for example, under the threat of …

  • Umerov: Crimean Tatars will not take part in Russian elections

    The deputy chairman of the Crimean Tatar’s Mejlis, Ilmi Umerov, stated that Crimean Tatars will not take part in the Russian State Duma elections on September 18 in the Crimea.

    “It is absolutely clear that the majority of Crimean Tatars will not take part in the elections. We urge them to do that. The organization of elections in the occupied territories will result in recognition of the invalidity of Russian elections and these are huge costs [for Russia],” Umerov said.

    On September 8, the …

  • Crimean Tatar leader calls on Ukraine to insist on recognizing Russian Duma elections as illegitimate

    A Ukrainian politician and public figure and leader of the Crimean Tatar national movement in Ukraine, Refat Chubarov, stated that Ukraine should demand recognition of illegitimacy of the entire newly elected Stated Duma of the Russian Federation, as he stated on the TV Channel 112.

    "Ukraine should demand the recognition of illegitimacy not only of those deputies who will be elected through illegal elections in the Crimea, but also of the entire State Duma of the Russian Federation. It is …

  • 260 foreign merchant vessels have entered Crimean ports since the peninsula's annexation

    From 18 March 2014 to 15 August 2016, 260 merchant vessels flying the flags of 32 countries entered ports of the occupied Crimea  - Yevpatoria, Sevastopol, Yalta, Feodosia, and Kerch – violating bans and sanctions, as demonstrated by the monitoring of information portal BSNews, which uses AIS (automatic identification system) vessel tracking systems.

    Vessels which provide passenger and cargo services in and out of ports on the Crimean peninsula and also special vessels taking part in the …

  • Ukrainian Foreign Ministry protests Shoygu's visit to Crimea

    The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed outrage to Russia because of Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu’s visit to the Crimea. According to Interfax-Ukraine, this was reported by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mariana Betsa.

    “Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry is expressing a protest in connection with the presence of the Russian Minister of Defense on the sovereign territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, which includes the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and …

  • Two US reconnaissance aircraft approached the Crimea

    On September 9, two patrol aircraft from the US Navy P-8A Poseidon approached the coast of the Crimea three hours apart from each other. This was reported by Interfax, referring to websites that track the movement of military aircraft.

    They took off on Friday from the Italian airbase Sigonella, and the last of the planes is currently performing the task over the Black Sea near the Russian borders and the Crimea.

    Poseidon’s route runs through Greek and Bulgarian airspace to the area west of …

  • Turkish MoD condemns annexation of Crimea

    During an official visit to London, the Ukrainian Minister of Defense and General of the Army of Ukraine, Stepan Poltorak, held a meeting with Turkish Defense Minister, Fikri Işık, as reported by the press service of Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.

    The Turkish Defense Minister noted that his country condemns the annexation of the Crimea and supports Ukraine in its quest for independence and sovereignty. He stressed that the improving relationship between Turkey with Russia will have no impact …

  • Russia scrambled more than 20 fighters in Crimea

    Air force units from the Southern Military District of Russia are training to repel a massive raid of imaginary enemies as part of the Caucasus-2016 exercises, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported Thursday.

    "As part of the Caucasus-2016 exercises more than 20 fighter planes of the Southern Military District (SMD) were scrambled in 10 minutes to repel a massive air attack by the imaginary enemy. The crews of Su-30SM, Su-30M2 and Su-27SM3 fighter planes of the 4th Army Air …

  • Russian Su-27s train to intercept aircraft over Crimea

    According to the Russian Defense Ministry's press service, Russian fighter jets in the Crimean air space are training to intercept enemy aircraft.

    "A pair of Su-27 combat aircraft on duty from the South Military District scrambled within three minutes from an airfield based in the Crimea and hit all of their air targets as a part of the Strategic Command and Staff Exercise Caucasus-2016," the message says.

    The Ministry added that their enemy aircraft were simulated by three Tu-95MS missile …