PRESS RELEASE : Russia’s repressive campaign against Crimean Tatars must end – UK statement to the OSCE [May 2023]

Thank you, Mr Chair. The United Kingdom strongly condemns the latest wave of attacks on Kyiv, Odesa, and across Ukraine overnight. We commend the bravery and skill of those defending the cities of Ukraine, and our thoughts are with the civilians who yet again suffer due to Russia’s brutal attacks.

The United Kingdom welcomes the news that the Black Sea Grain initiative will be renewed. It is vital that this continues. We applaud Türkiye and the UN Secretary General for their continued efforts to keep the initiative going. But let us not forget that the illegal and unprovoked war on Ukraine has held the world’s food hostage. So once again, we call on Russia to end its use of food as a weapon.

Mr Chair, last weekend, while Europe came together at the Eurovision Song Contest, Russia launched cruise missiles at Ternopil, the home city of Ukraine’s Eurovision contestants. Two people were injured, and several warehouses destroyed. Russia then shelled residential buildings in Kostyantynivka killing two people, including a 15-year-old girl, and injuring ten others. Despite Russia’s attempts to silence Ukraine, the voices of those fighting for freedom are still being heard. Today, we mark the anniversary of Stalin’s mass deportation of Crimean Tatars from their homeland. So today, I will amplify the voices of Crimean Tatars, drawing on the testimonies from a recent event held at the British Embassy in Kyiv.

Since Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014, the Crimean Tatars have endured a ruthless campaign of persecution for simply existing in their homeland. Russia has imposed a repressive regime of arbitrary arrests, torture and enforced disappearances. One victim of this brutal, discriminatory oppression is Leniye Umerova, a 25-year-old Crimean Tatar. She was arrested in December 2022 whilst returning to Crimea to take care of her seriously ill father. Russian guards interrogated Leniye for having a Ukrainian passport, looked through her phone and discovered her support for Ukraine. This was enough to see her transferred to a detention centre in Moscow. When Leniye was eventually released, four men were waiting for her, they grabbed her, put a bag over her head, and left her in an unfamiliar district of Vladikavkaz. Almost immediately, she was detained by police and to this day has not been released. Leniye now faces the additional charge of espionage; if found guilty, she could face up to 20 years in prison.

As part of its repression, Russia is intent on preventing human rights activists from carrying out their crucial work. These include Abdureshit Dzhepparov who is also a Crimean Tatar. On 25 April 2023, armed and masked members of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) broke into Abdureshit’s home, seized his phone, laptop, and Ukrainian passport, and arrested him. Abdureshit was held in solitary confinement – his whereabouts unknown to his family – for 12 days of horrific psychological distress.

Moreover, Russia brands Crimean Tatars who are legitimately politically active as ‘extremists’ and ‘terrorists’. People like Nariman Dzhelyal, who in 2021 was arrested by the FSB for allegedly bombing a pipeline in Crimea, despite being in Kyiv on the day of the alleged events. Nariman was imprisoned for 24 hours in a basement, without access to food, water, or a lawyer, and was tortured by electrocution. He faces 17 years in a high security prison, based on the supposed testimony of three so-called “anonymous” witnesses. Nariman has no access to medical care, inadequate food, and his health is deteriorating. Several other Crimean Tatars have died from such prison conditions.

Mr Chair, we cannot, and we will not let terror prevail. We call on Russia to release its political prisoners and cease its torture and persecution of Crimean Tatars. Once more, we emphasise that Crimea is Ukraine. The UK remains absolutely committed to the sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders. Peace can only be achieved after Russia ceases hostilities against Ukraine. And after Russia withdraws all of its forces from all of Ukraine – fully, immediately and unconditionally. As my Prime Minister said during President Zelenksyy’s visit earlier this week: “it is in all our interests to ensure Ukraine succeeds and Putin’s barbarism is not rewarded”. We must not let Ukraine down.

Thank you, Mr Chair.