Eldar Kestan, a resident of the village of Partizany in the Genichesk district of the Kherson region, was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison. He was accused of participating in the activities of the Crimean Tatar volunteer battalion named after Noman Celebidzhikhan. The territory is under the control of Russian troops and authorities, the project “Support for Political Prisoners” reported. Memorial".

According to the prosecution, in 2015, Kestan allegedly joined the ranks of the Celebidzhikhan battalion. Entrepreneur Lenur Islyamov announced the creation of the division in 2015. It was then that the leaders of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people declared a civil blockade of Crimea.

Members of the formation monitored cargo at the “border” with Crimea. Over the next two months, the Ukrainian government banned the supply of goods and services to the peninsula, with the exception of humanitarian supplies. Since January 2016, members of the battalion, or rather the public association “Asker” created on its basis, have carried out joint patrols with the Border Guard Service of Ukraine. The battalion never took part in real military operations.

“We believe that, despite the fact that the creation of this public formation was not enshrined in law, its activities cannot be considered illegal. Proof of this is joint border patrolling with Ukrainian security forces. At the same time, it is not the battalion’s activities that obviously contradict Russia’s interests, but the illegal seizure of Ukrainian territories,” human rights activists noted.