• Police in Crimea warned the Deputy Head of the Mejlis about holding rally

    The Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatars, Ilmi Umerov, has said that on the 17th of May 2016, he was visited by police who warned him that any activities planned for the 18th of May will not be allowed. The Mejlis had previously organized events to take place on Memorial Day in remembrance of the 1944 deportation of the Crimean Tatars.

    “I was referred to as the organizer of a public event. I then had to explain to members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia that on the …

  • Media: Missile warning system will be returned to the Crimea

    Russia intends to restore the Dnepr radar station, which is situated near Sevastopol. This new facility will house a missile warning system which will be able to detect ballistic launches, cruise missile launches and hypersonic missile launches from the waters of the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. This was reported by the Izvestia newspaper, citing a source in the military-industrial sector.

    There are two ways to restore the station. The first option would be building it from the ground …

  • UN urges Russia to protect rights of Crimean Tatars on anniversary of deportation

    The United Nations has called on Russia to protect the rights of Crimean Tatars on the 72nd anniversary of their deportation by Soviet authorities, Radio Svoboda reported. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Rupert Colville, noted that persecution of Crimean Tatars has increased significantly since Russia annexed the Peninsula in 2014. "Since April 2014, Crimean Tatars have been subjected to arbitrary searches, seizure of books, and arrest. Last year, the authorities shut down a number …

  • 5,000 tons of food destroyed in Russia since August

    According to the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance, more than 5,000 tons of food has been smuggled to Russia since August 6th. The banned produce included 4,776 tons of plant products, generally vegetables and fruits, and 244 tons of animal products. Of these amounts, 4,630 tons of plants and 181 tons of animal products have been destroyed.

    From April 29th to May 5th this year, about 300 tons of plant produce and 26 tons of animal produce were seized.

    The …

  • Crimea is losing popularity with Russian tourists

    Tour agents recorded a significant drop in demand for flights by Russian tourists to annexed Crimea. Demand for flights to Simferopol via the Svyaznoy Travel Company declined by more than 25 percent, reported the newspaper Kommersant on Monday, May 16th. In 2015, half of Svyaznoy’s flight destinations went to Crimea. Today, the figure is not more than 35% of their bookings.

    Commercial director Andriy Osyntsev called it a predictable decline. "Infrastructure of the peninsula currently cannot …