"You will be expelled from here." In Crimea, FSB persecutes man for talking about war in taxi

In Crimea, which was annexed by the Russian Federation, Russian security forces detained a man after he spoke to a taxi driver about Russia's war against Ukraine. Subsequently, the recording of this conversation ended up in the hands of Russian special services. The practice of denunciations, which has been taking place in Crimea since 2014, has intensified in the conditions of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, Ukrainian human rights activists claim. What is known about the detainee and what threatens him, we tell in the material Krym.Realii.

Since 2022, the Russian authorities in Crimea have been publicly assuring that Crimeans "support Russian President Vladimir Putin" and his policies, including the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation. But, in reality, the persecution of people for their anti-war stance does not stop on the peninsula.

In August, Z-publications announced the arrest of an alleged "supporter of the return of Ukraine." They massively published a fragment of an operational video in which FSB officers detain a man, pushing him face down on the floor in his own home. The reason was a conversation with a taxi driver, and it turned out that the video ended up in the hands of the Russian security forces.

"There will be a big, huge train in Russia"

The investigative publications published the personal data of the detainee - they called him Andrej Pavlyuk from Sevastopol. According to publicly available information, the person with such information is engaged in entrepreneurship.

A fragment of the alleged conversation between him and the taxi driver was published. In the video, a male voice can be heard saying that "soon Crimea will see" the negative consequences for the Russian Federation of the war it launched against Ukraine.

"Soon you will see and understand everything. Russia will be in big trouble. It won't be, but it already is. There is no holiday season in Crimea. I paid 10,000 rubles for two gas bottles. It is already in trouble," says a male voice on the video.

He mentioned Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries and Wildberries logistics warehouses in various regions of the Russian Federation and is convinced that the Russians "will be driven out of Crimea."

“They will drive you out of here so roughly. Although no one will drive you out - you will row, when there is no bridge (across the Kerch Strait - KR). <…> I am satisfied with the outcome - everything is as you wanted: 'Kiev in three days' and all that,” the voice in the recording says.

After these words, the driver, judging by the audio recording, demanded that the passenger get out of the car and pay.

The FSB officers then came to Andrei Pavlyuk's house.

"I thought Crimea would be Ukrainian - they explained it would be Russian"

In the released video, at least four FSB officers in uniform and with weapons burst into the apartment and forced the owner to bend down face down. It was not announced what he was charged with.

There are no official reports of Andrei Pavlyuk's detention in the publications of the Russian security forces. There is also no information about what happened.

Z-publications published a "video confession", in which Andrei Pavlyuk, wearing a T-shirt with the inscription "Ukraine" and holding a Ukrainian flag against the background of the Russian tricolor, "confesses" that he "photographed and filmed the work of the Russian Air Force" and "thought that Crimea would become Ukrainian", but "they explained to him that it was, was and will be Russian".

It is not known whether this video was recorded with Pavlyuk's voluntary consent. Andrei Pavlyuk has not publicly stated his position on this issue.

Similar videos are a key tool for residents persecuted in Crimea for their anti-war views.

These videos appear as a result of pressure from Russian security forces on participants in “anti-war” activities, Ukrainian human rights activists are convinced.

“This is clearly a case of coercion. Many of these apologies are published on channels that clearly declare their goal of persecuting people disloyal to Russia. If such videos appear on such channels, this indicates that they have “worked” with the person. As a rule, this is done by threatening the person himself and his family with negative consequences. Therefore, these apologies are not considered voluntary, they are definitely given under duress,” says Olga Skripnik, head of the Crimean Human Rights Group’s board.

Every fourth Crimean resident who was shown publicly apologizing for his pro-Ukrainian stance was "exposed to additional humiliation," the Crimean human rights initiative Irade said earlier, studying hundreds of videos published in local propaganda publications and media.

"Even private statements become grounds for persecution"

What Andrei Pavlyuk is accused of and what he is facing is currently unknown. The Crimean Tatar Resource Center reports clear signs of persecution of the man because of his statements.

"The way the occupiers are portraying this detention is particularly indicative. Ridicule, humiliation and demonstrative disrespect for the person have become part of the propaganda support for the repressions. A series of published videos may testify to the deliberate persecution of the man after his statement. This case once again demonstrates the atmosphere of fear and impunity that Russia has created in occupied Crimea, where even private statements of a pro-Ukrainian stance can become grounds for criminal prosecution," the KRC states.

Z-publicists are threatening Andrei Pavlyuk with criminal prosecution, citing the fact that he was previously prosecuted under administrative provisions for "insulting and using violence against an official." The circumstances of these cases are unknown.

In the recording of the conversation with the taxi driver, a voice attributed to Andrej Pavljuk mentioned that he had already been taken into custody by FSB officers, who, according to him, put a bag over his head and broke two of his ribs.