Russian troops arrive at pre-trial detention center, hand out summonses to Crimean Tatars in Crimea

The Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people and lawmaker Refat Chubarov said this on Espreso TV. 

"The occupation administration in Crimea is stepping up repression. They see no other mechanisms to keep Crimean society under control," he said.

Chubarov said that on August 24 at 4:00 a.m., Russians started massive searches in the houses of Crimean Tatars in Bakhchysarai, Bakhchysarai district.

"Six Crimean Tatars were arrested and accused of belonging to terrorist organizations. On August 25 and 26, people came out to support the arrested. On August 25, 23 more Crimean Tatars were arrested. They were drawn up protocols and given large fines. What was new, it had never happened before - a representative of the Russian occupation military commissariat came to the detention center and started issuing summonses to everyone. And there were men in their 50s and 60s. Of course, everyone refused to accept these summonses. We can see that the Russian forces are trying to discourage people from defending each other by threatening to mobilize them into the Russian army. This is the first time they have done this in Crimea," summarized the head of the Mejlis.

• On August 24, Russian security forces in occupied Crimea conducted massive searches in the houses of Crimean Tatars in the early morning. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Ukraine's Independence Day became a pretext for a new wave of repression against Crimean Tatars by the occupation authorities and collaborators in Crimea.