"Crimean Solidarity" Ceases Operations After Russia Adds It to the "Foreign Agents" Registry
The civil society human rights movement “Crimean Solidarity” announced that it has been forced to cease operations. Its website and social media pages will no longer be updated.
The reason for this was the movement’s inclusion on June 26 in the “foreign agents” registry by Russia—the aggressor state. Member of Parliament and former Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Tamila Tasheva called this decision an act of pressure by the occupying power.
“This decision is an act of pressure through which the occupying power is attempting to isolate and discredit human rights defenders, as well as intensify repression against the independent movement and our fellow citizens,” Tasheva stated. According to her, over the course of its 10 years of activity, “Crimean Solidarity” has documented the stories of those persecuted, supported the families of detainees, provided legal assistance, and spread the truth that remained off the official agenda.
Tashova also noted that activists who helped victims of political repression were themselves subjected to fines and unlawful persecution. Some of their colleagues—human rights defenders, journalists, and volunteers—remain in unlawful detention.
According to the lawmaker, hundreds of families of political prisoners, Ukrainian citizens held in unlawful detention, and thousands of people in the temporarily occupied Crimea remain without support and vital legal protection. She called for continuing the fight for every Ukrainian citizen and for increasing pressure on Russia in international forums.
