Guerrilla movement on rise in occupied Crimea
May 12, 2022
Ukrinform
In the temporarily occupied Crimea, the guerrilla movement against the Russian invaders has reportedly intensified. This was announced by the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Liudmyla Denisova, via Telegram, Ukrinform reports. According to the ombudsperson, in March, the Russians started to move their families out of Crimea en masse, while the sales of real estate have grown rapidly. “Over the 2.5 months of the war, the Kremlin began to realize that the moods of Crimea residents are changing. Crimeans are waiting for the liberation of the peninsula from Russia’s invasion. The guerrilla movement against the Russians intensified in Crimea,” Denisova wrote.
Relatives of Crimeans who are fighting in the Russian army against Ukraine are receiving warnings of “imminent retribution.” The leaflet reads: “Russian military, beware: we’re already here. Crimea is Ukraine.”
According to the official, guerrilla resistance manifestations range from car tire puncturing, targeting supporters of the occupation, posting leaflets with anti-war appeals, and collecting home addresses of Russian invaders.
According to Denisova, residents of the peninsula, who had initially welcomed Putin’s Russia, have begun to realize that the war will be lost, and that the time when all collaborators will be held accountable is approaching.
According to the official, against this background, the Kremlin ordered local “police” and FSB operatives to increase pressure on the locals and prevent provocations. To this end, the so-called Cossacks from the Rostov region were sent to assist local “law enforcement.” According to the ombudsman, they will work to identify, locate, and detain Ukrainian activists. Military hardware being deployed across Crimea to Ukraine’s mainland is now also being protected more than usual.
In addition, the Kremlin has issued an order to increase propaganda efforts and manipulate the statistics on the number of KIAs and WIAs brought to Crimea from the war in Ukraine.
The Commissioner stressed that terror and ill-treatment of civilians in the occupied territories is a war crime under the Statute of the International Military Tribunal and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, as well as a violation of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.
The ombudperson called on the UN Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights Violations during the Russian Federation’s military invasion of Ukraine to take into account these crimes and violations by the Russian Federation.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, concerned citizens in the occupied Crimea are posting leaflets comparing Russia with Nazi Germany.