More than 5,000 human rights violations registered in Crimea since start of occupation

Over the past 9.5 years, more than 5,000 human rights violations have been registered in the temporarily occupied Crimea, mostly concerning representatives of the Crimean Tatar people.

"Over the past 9.5 years, more than 5,000 human rights violations have been registered in Crimea. This mainly concerns the Crimean Tatars. Russia tries to focus attention on the Crimean Tatars, exposing them as potential terrorists and criminals," Crimean Tatar activist, human rights defender, deputy director at the Ukrainian Institute Alim Aliyev said during the conference "Crimea Global. Understanding Ukraine through the South", an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

He also noted that Ukraine was going through the process of decolonization of Crimea.

According to him, "after 2014, Crimea turned into a model of colonization measures for Russia."

"Speaking about internally displaced persons, about refugees, almost 70,000 people have left Crimea over the past 9.5 years. But we also have the reverse process, when more than 700,000 people have come to Crimea from Russia, and these are already different people. This not only the military but also civilians who colonized Crimea," Aliyev said.

"This is our joint war. And in this war, many Crimean Tatars, Ukrainians and representatives of other nationalities are now in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the frontline. This is a war not only for our territory, for our land, but also for our identity, for our dignity and for our future," he emphasized.

As reported, since the beginning of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, the occupiers of Crimea have accused 472 residents of the peninsula of "discrediting" the Russian army.