Detention: In April 2022, Ayder Umerov, a resident of the village of Rykove in the Henichesk district of Kherson region, was detained by representatives of the Russian occupying forces. According to the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, after a search of his home, he was taken from Kherson region to occupied Crimea and placed in the Simferopol pre-trial detention centre. His abduction became known on May 27, 2022. The exact circumstances and date of detention in available Ukrainian human rights sources differ from the version of the Russian security agencies. The Russian side claimed that Umerov was detained while attempting to enter Crimea from Kherson region. Ukrainian human rights activists reported his abduction after a search at his residence.

Sentence: On September 2, 2022, the occupying Kyiv District Court of Simferopol sentenced Ayder Umerov under Part 2 of Article 208 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to 5 years of imprisonment in a strict regime colony, with the first year to be served in prison. On February 1, 2023, the Supreme Court of occupied Crimea upheld the sentence.

Ayder Osmanovich Umerov was born in 1991. He is a Crimean Tatar, a citizen of Ukraine, and a resident of the village of Rykove in the Henichesk district of Kherson region. Before his detention, he lived in Kherson region.

In the criminal case, Russian investigators accused Umerov of participating in the Crimean Tatar volunteer battalion named after Noman Çelebicihan. He was charged under Part 2 of Article 208 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for participating in an armed formation on the territory of a foreign state, which, according to the Russian side, acted in interests contrary to the Russian Federation.

According to the Russian investigation, Umerov allegedly voluntarily joined the battalion in 2016. The court claimed he was on duty at checkpoints on the administrative border between mainland Ukraine and occupied Crimea, checking people and vehicles, digging trenches, and performing household tasks.

At the same time, human rights activists point out the lack of convincing physical evidence of Umerov's participation in the battalion's activities. According to the project, the court relied on his confession and the testimony of two secret witnesses. Umerov was not recorded in the video footage of the battalion's activities examined by the court, and his name was not mentioned in textual materials about the formation's activities.

According to the court case materials, Umerov pleaded guilty and explained that in May 2022, he was heading to Crimea to contact Russian law enforcement agencies with a statement to cease his participation in the formation. Human rights activists questioned the voluntariness of these testimonies and noted that in cases of this category, defendants may be under pressure after abduction and illegal detention.

On September 2, 2022, the occupying court in Simferopol issued a guilty verdict. Umerov was sentenced to five years of imprisonment, the first year in prison, the remainder in a strict regime colony.

On February 1, 2023, the appellate instance of the occupying judicial system upheld the sentence.

As of September 13, 2026, the last confirmed place of detention for Ayder Umerov is FKU 'IK No. 1 of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia in Stavropol Krai' in the village of Kochubeyevskoye.

Information used from open sources: ZMINA, Crimean Tatar Resource Center, CrimeaSOS, Association of Relatives of Kremlin Political Prisoners, Representation of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

Date of update: 13.09.2026.