Russian occupiers abducted Crimean Tatar woman in temporarily occupied Crimea: they accuse her of “treason”

The Human Rights House Crimea stated that a Crimean Tatar woman was kidnapped and accused of “high treason” by Russian occupying authorities in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Crimean human rights defenders pointed out that such kidnappings are usually accompanied by illegal detentions, torture, and the forced extraction of confessions in fabricated cases.

Illustrative photo. Source: pexels.com.

A young kindergarten teacher named Zaliyaі disappeared six months ago. She left her parents’ home and took a bus to Simferopol. Upon arrival, she called her mother, but by the next day, her phone was switched off.

According to her mother, her daughter intended to meet friends. The mother called everyone, but no one had seen her.

The mother tried to contact her daughter for several days. The family appealed to the illegitimate “police,” but the search for the girl was not started. Acquaintances of the family asked taxi drivers in Simferopol about Zaliya, but to no avail.

On the third day, at half past six in the morning, men in uniform knocked on the family’s door. They identified themselves as employees of the illegitimate FSB and reported that Zaliya had been detained, she is under arrest in Sevastopol, and she is accused of high treason under Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

“They said that she allegedly wanted to blow something up, and she was detained red-handed,” the mother recounted. At that moment, the most important thing for the woman was that her daughter was alive.

The Russian occupying security forces entered the house: one of them conducted an interrogation, another took notes. Another one, with his face covered, walked around the house, checking the phones of family members. In total, the search and interrogation lasted about six hours. The security forces brought three attesting witnesses with them.

The mother expressed the only assumption as to why the occupiers arrested Zaliya: she had never hidden her pro-Ukrainian position. Later, the girl’s relatives realized that the occupying security forces had been “tailing” her. Among the official vehicles parked on the street during the search, neighbors recognized one of the cars. It had been standing near their yard for at least the last three days before the disappearance of the Crimean Tatar woman.

After the interrogations, the FSB employees did not leave any documents with information: neither about Zaliya’s detention nor about her whereabouts. They said that an investigator would call in a few days, but this did not happen.

The relatives hired a lawyer who helped write letters to various illegitimate law enforcement bodies on the peninsula, including the “Prosecutor’s office”, the “Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Crimea”, and the “FSB”, among others. But from everywhere they answered the same thing: they did not know the girl’s whereabouts.

Three weeks later, Zaliya called her mother, said that she was fine, and that she was in Sevastopol. At that point, the call was cut off. After this conversation, the woman received permission for a parcel with a change of clothes. For 21 days, the girl had been wearing the same clothes she had on when detained.

While the relatives were searching for Zaliya, she was being transferred between various detention facilities in the temporarily occupied Sevastopol. Later, she was transferred to the Simferopol pre-trial detention center, and the mother was able to see her. Every two months, Zaliya’s measure of restraint in the form of detention is extended.

The hearings are the only opportunity for the lawyer to obtain permission for a visit between the mother and the girl. In six months, there have been three such visits. The conversations last one and a half to two hours. Russian occupiers do not allow them to meet longer than that time.

According to the mother, Zaliya looks well and never complains about the conditions. The girl said that on weekdays, the TV works in the pre-trial detention center, and they show Skabeevaі twice a day.

Twice a month, the girl receives food products from her relatives and can send and receive emails. The family has to pay for each of the letters: for both the sent and the received ones. Moreover, they arrive with a delay.

The family is trying to free Zaliya.

The Human Rights House Crimea reminded that during the last two years, Russian security forces in temporarily occupied Crimea have intensified the practice of enforced disappearances. As of the end of 2024, there were 27 confirmed cases of this type. Eight of these people could not be found, three were convicted by the illegitimate “courts” on the peninsula, and the rest were released. In 2025, out of 18 persons, only one was released.

Often, security forces hold people incommunicado — when, after the kidnapping, relatives do not know for a long time where the person is located and what they are accused of.

Earlier, ZMINA reported that in occupied Crimea, Russian security forces took away Sakha Mangubi, a mother of two minor children, based on an anonymous denunciation more than a year ago, on November 2, 2024. Her family still has no official information about the fate and whereabouts of the Crimean woman.