ZMINA took part in a meeting with UNESCO and human rights defenders on growing repression against journalists in occupied Crimea

On 27 May 2026, the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea hosted a consultative meeting attended by experts, human rights defenders, and the UNESCO Antenna in Ukraine. The meeting focused on the situation regarding freedom of expression, education, and cultural and natural heritage in occupied Crimea. Nari Usenko, a representative of the Human Rights Centre ZMINA, also took part in the event.

Photo: Vitalii Sekretar, Yuliia Tyshchenko, Olha Kuryshko, Nelia Hrynyshyn

During the event, participants discussed the intensification of repression against journalists, bloggers, human rights defenders, and civic activists on the peninsula, as well as new mechanisms of information control introduced by Russia in occupied Crimea.

Olha Kuryshko, Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, stated that the Russian Federation systematically uses culture, history, and the information space as instruments in its war against Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar identity.

“For Russia, it is normal to destroy everything Ukrainian, both mentally and physically, to erase memory, distort history, and suppress identity“, Kuryshko stressed.

Chiara Dezzi Bardeschi, Head of the UNESCO Antenna in Ukraine, emphasised the importance of continuous international monitoring of the situation in occupied Crimea and the documentation of human rights violations.

“We value this cooperation and recognise the importance of not only documenting violations but also strengthening practical cooperation to address them“, she noted.

Photo: Chiara Dezzi Bardeschi

Particular attention during the meeting was paid to the state of freedom of expression in occupied Crimea. According to monitoring conducted by the Human Rights Centre ZMINA between April 2025 and May 2026, the main forms of pressure on journalists, bloggers, and online activists continue to be legal persecution, administrative proceedings, and extrajudicial pressure.

Human rights defenders documented 26 cases of attacks and threats targeting media workers, citizen journalists, bloggers, and activists. Key trends included the use of “foreign agents” legislation, in absentia prosecutions of journalists who had left the peninsula, as well as searches, “preventive conversations,” and summonses issued by law enforcement agencies.

ZMINA stresses that the relatively small number of documented cases does not indicate an improvement in the situation but rather reflects the near-total destruction of independent journalism in occupied Crimea since 2014.

“Russia continues to build a system of total control over the information space in Crimea. Independent journalism has been virtually driven out, and any attempts to report on human rights violations or criticise the occupation authorities carry the risk of persecution“, Nari Usenko noted during the meeting.

Human rights defenders also drew attention to the tightening of Russian legislation aimed at suppressing freedom of expression in occupied Crimea, particularly through the expansion of “foreign agents” provisions and new tools of persecution. They further noted that the occupation authorities continue to restrict independent journalists’ access to court hearings in politically motivated cases.

Photo: Mariia Sulialina, Olha Skrypnyk with a microphone

The meeting also addressed the militarisation of education, the rewriting of history in line with Russian propaganda narratives, violations of the cultural rights of Crimean Tatars, the destruction of cultural heritage, and environmental threats on the occupied peninsula.

At the conclusion of the event, participants emphasised the need for continued cooperation with international organisations, including UNESCO, to document human rights violations and protect cultural and natural heritage in occupied Crimea.

Earlier, ZMINA reported that human rights defenders had submitted materials to the UN on Russia’s use of disinformation as a tool for undermining cultural rights during wartime.

Photo credit: The Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea