Ukraine's Foreign Ministry protests against Russia's illegal activities - cases of illegal searches and detentions in the occupied Crimea. This was reported by the press service of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
"Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine strongly protests against a new wave of illegal politically motivated searches and detentions in the temporarily occupied Crimea, carried out by the Russian occupation authorities," the statement reads.
The information about Russia's illegal activities in the temporarily occupied territories, including the mentioned cases of illegal searches and detentions, will be presented by Ukraine on February 23, 2021, for the consideration of the UN General Assembly during the debate on the agenda item “The Situation in the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine”.
"The Russian Federation has to fulfill its international legal obligations as an occupying power and to put an end to political repressions against the population of the temporarily occupied territories. We call on international partners to give a proper assessment of the Russian Federation’s illegal actions in the temporarily occupied Crimea," the ministry added.
As we reported earlier, the Russian Security Service (FSB) conducted searches in the homes of Crimean Tatars located in the annexed Crimea - at least six people were detained. The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Lyudmila Denisova wrote about this on her Facebook page.
"Today (on February 17 - 112 International.) there were mass searches in the temporarily occupied Crimea: in Bilohirsk, Bakhchysarai, Simferopol, Sevastopol, and Radianskyi area of the peninsula. Investigative actions of so-called militiamen were carried out in seven households," she wrote.
Denisova calls the persecution of Crimean Tatars in annexed Crimea religiously motivated. The representative office of the President of Ukraine in the region views these events as "political persecution."
