Joint Statement by the Participants of the International Crimea Platform on the Day of Resistance to the Occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol

Marking 26 February as the anniversary of resistance to the temporary occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, and honoring the courage of those Ukrainians, including Crimean Tatars, and representatives of other Indigenous Peoples and national communities of Ukraine — who in 2014 openly and resolutely stood up for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and constitutional order of Ukraine,

Reaffirming our commitment to the goals and principles enshrined in the final documents of the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Summits of the International Crimea Platform, the New York Declaration of the Fifth Summit of the International Crimea Platform, as well as the decisions of the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Parliamentary Summits of the International Crimea Platform,

Guided by the Charter of the United Nations and referring to all relevant resolutions of the UN General Assembly, in particular Resolution 68/262 of 27 March 2014 “Territorial integrity of Ukraine”; Resolutions 71/205, 72/190, 73/263, 74/168, 75/192, 76/179, 77/229 “Situation of human rights in the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine”; Resolutions 73/194, 74/17, 75/29, 76/70 “Problem of the militarization of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine, as well as parts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov”; Resolutions 78/221, 79/184, 80/223 “Situation of human rights in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, including the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol”; Resolution ES-11/1 of 2 March 2022 “Aggression against Ukraine”; Resolution ES-11/2 of 24 March 2022 “Humanitarian consequences of the aggression against Ukraine”; Resolution ES-11/4 of 12 October 2022 “Territorial integrity of Ukraine: defending the principles of the Charter of the United Nations”; Resolution ES-11/5 of 14 November 2022 “Furtherance of remedy and reparation for aggression against Ukraine”; Resolution ES-11/6 of 23 February 2023 “Principles of the Charter of the United Nations underlying a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine”; Resolution ES-11/7 of 24 February 2025 “Advancing a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine”; as well as Resolution ES-11/9 “Return of Ukrainian children”,

We, the participants of the International Crimea Platform,

Continue to firmly uphold and affirm our unwavering support for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine within internationally recognised borders as of 1991, including its territorial sea;

Believe that the restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine will be a crucial step for the restoration of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace for Ukraine;

Honor the memory of all participants in the resistance who have died as a result of the armed aggression and attempted illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol by the Russian Federation;

Strongly condemn the ongoing aggression of the Russian Federation, which for twelve years — since the very beginning of the temporary occupation of Ukraine`s territory in February 2014 — has been systematically committing large-scale violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms on the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, including the Crimean Peninsula: politically motivated persecution, arbitrary detentions and arrests, torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, enforced disappearances, violations of the right to a fair trial, suppression of freedom of expression, freedom of conscience and religion, persecution of independent media, journalists, human rights defenders, and representatives of religious communities, the banning of representative institutions of the Crimean Tatar people, forced passportization, unlawful conscription and mobilization of residents of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol and other temporarily occupied parts of the territory of Ukraine;

Expressing grave concern at Russia imposing its own occupying administration on the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, in violation of international humanitarian law and at the expropriation of public and private property, destruction of economic activity, and exploitation of this territory for the interests of the Russian Federation;

Strongly condemn the alteration of the demographic composition of the Crimean Peninsula, including the practice of forcible transfer and deportation of the civilian population of Ukraine from the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, as well as from other parts of the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, including the deportation of Ukrainian children to the territory of the Russian Federation; their subsequent unlawful adoption or placement under guardianship in the territory of the occupying state, in particular through the forced passportization, changes to their personal data, restriction of contact with their families, and deprivation of the right to preserve their national identity, including their nationality, culture, and origin;

Expressing grave concern at the deliberate policy of restricting access to education in the native language for Ukrainians, representatives of Indigenous Peoples, and national communities of the Crimean Peninsula and other temporarily occupied parts of the territory of Ukraine, which serves as an instrument of forced assimilation, as well as the systematic militarization of the educational process and the consciousness of youth, aimed at eroding children’s national identity and forming a distorted perception of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation as a normal aspect of social life;

Strongly condemn the situation in which the Russian Federation carries out the destruction and removal of Ukraine’s cultural property, as well as the destruction of historical and cultural sites in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, which poses a direct threat to the destruction of monuments of global significance and undermines fundamental human rights to the preservation of one’s own identity and cultural heritage;

Emphasize that the aforementioned actions constitute flagrant violations of international humanitarian law, in particular of obligations enshrined in the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 and the Additional Protocol I of 1977 thereto, as well as of international human rights law, and may qualify as war crimes and crimes against humanity, for which those responsible must be held accountable in accordance with international criminal law;

Reaffirm our firm and consistent position of non-recognition of the Russian attempt to illegally annex the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, as well as the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine, which constitutes a flagrant violation of the principles and purposes of the UN Charter and poses a serious threat to international peace and security, and the rule-based international order ;

Recognize the inalienable right of all citizens of Ukraine who, as a result of Russia’s armed aggression and temporary occupation, have become internally displaced persons or were forced to leave Ukraine, to return to their homes after its de-occupation and to the restoration of their property and cultural rights, of which they were deprived during years of exile;

Note that the activities of the Russian Federation in the Black Sea region, the unlawful militarization of the temporarily occupied Crimean Peninsula, the deployment of strike weapon systems, including those capable of carrying nuclear potential, the use of the territory of Crimea as a staging ground to expand its armed aggression against Ukraine, including missile strikes against civilian and energy infrastructure, restrictions on freedom of navigation, threats against merchant vessels, and the export of stolen Ukrainian grain from the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine to third countries, significantly destabilize the security situation even beyond the region and cause severe, including potentially irreversible, environmental harm for the Crimean Peninsula;

Express support for diplomatic efforts led by the United States, with the participation of Europe and other international partners, aimed at restoring a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace for Ukraine, based on respect for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and international law;

Continue to adhere to the obligation of non-recognition of the legality of a situation created as a result of a serious breach of peremptory norms of international law;

Support the activities of international judicial and other relevant mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court, the European Court of Human Rights and other institutions, to ensure accountability for violations of international law committed in the temporarily occupied Crimea and other temporarily occupied parts of Ukraine;

Reiterate a call for the full and effective enforcement of sanctions and for further means and measures to counter their circumvention, including through third countries, and remain ready to step up pressure on Russia and those who support the armed aggression against Ukraine, including by adopting further sanctions, as long as the illegal actions by the Russian Federation continue to violate fundamental rules of international law and international humanitarian law;

Will never recognize the results of any illegal so-called “elections” organised by the Russian occupation administration in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine;

Demand immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners and persons unlawfully detained by the Russian Federation, including Iryna Danylovych, Halyna Dovhopola, Tofik Abdulhaziev, Appaz Kurtamet, Bohdan Ziza, Azamat Eiupov, Hennadii Lemeshko, and Esma Nimetullaeva, Aziz Ahtemov and Asan Ahtemov, as well as the provision of their rights to physical and mental health, legal safeguards and to a fair trial;

Enhance international monitoring of the human rights, security and humanitarian situation in the temporarily occupied Crimea by ensuring immediate and unhindered access for OHCHR and relevant UN Special Procedures, including visits to all places of deprivation of liberty, and by supporting the preservation and professional handling of evidence in line with international standards;

Resolutely counter attempts to change the demographic composition, further militarization, and Russia`s attempted integration of the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine into the legal, political, economic and security space of the Russian Federation.

On this Day, we honor the courage and resilience of the citizens of Ukraine who have been resisting on the temporarily occupied territory for twelve years, express our solidarity with them, and reaffirm our unity and determination to continue coordinating international efforts to preserve Ukraine’s sovereignty and restore its territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, including territorial sea.