Crimean Tatar Leniye Umerova, who spent almost two years in a Russian prison, shared her story in the European Parliament.
Umerova's passionate speech is broadcast by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine .
Umerova recalled that she spent almost two years in a Russian prison.
"In December 2022, I was kidnapped by Russian security forces right at the border when I was trying to get to Crimea to visit my seriously ill father. My only "crime" was that I am a Crimean Tatar. I am a Ukrainian born in Crimea. And I refuse to receive a Russian passport. For Russia, this is enough to label me an enemy and throw me behind bars," the Crimean woman said.
And then she noted that Russia's war against Ukraine is much more than the seizure of territories.
"This is more than a war for territory. This is a battle between light and darkness. Between freedom and slavery. Between democracy and tyranny. And Ukraine is still at war. But imagine, if Ukraine falls, who will be next?" Umerova emphasized.
It should be added that on September 13, 49 military and civilian personnel returned to Ukraine from Russian captivity . Among them is Crimean Tatar Leniye Umerova, who was captured by the Russians while crossing the Georgian border in 2022: she was traveling to Crimea to see her father, who has cancer. Russian security forces fabricated charges of espionage, for which Russian law provides for up to 20 years in prison.
Leniye Umerova told how difficult it was to understand the reality distorted by Russian mistrials, how she survived a year and 9 months in Russian prisons, and how important it is to publicize the stories of Kremlin prisoners. The Crimean woman also explained why it is important to send letters to political prisoners and told what to write in them.
Previously, "Apostrophe" also reported that the founder and editor-in-chief of the children's magazine Armançık, Ediye Muslimova, had disappeared in temporarily occupied Crimea.