Detention: FSB officers detained Ablyamitov in August 2020 after searching his home in the village of Zhuravka, Kirovskyi district. The next day, the Kyiv District Court of Simferopol arrested him. In October 2020, the Kirovskyi District Court of Crimea began considering Ablyamitov's case.

Sentence: Medzhit was imprisoned under Article 208 Part 2 of the Russian Criminal Code (“Participation in an armed formation not provided for by federal law, as well as participation on the territory of a foreign state in an armed formation not provided for by the legislation of this state, for purposes contrary to the interests of Russia”) for a term of 6 years in a strict regime colony and 1 year of restricted freedom of movement. He is accused of moving to mainland Ukraine and joining the Noman Çelebicihan Battalion, created by Lenur Islyamov.

Medzhit Enverovich Ablyamitov was born on November 23, 1993, in the village of Zhuravka, Kirovskyi district. After completing 11 grades of secondary school, he attended a driving school, where he obtained a driver's license. Before his arrest, Medzhit worked as a delivery driver, distributing dairy products.

Medzhit was never married, and his parents have already passed away. Despite this, he was a regular participant in Crimean Tatar national actions and rallies.

Medzhit was an active and concerned member of his community. He consistently participated in court proceedings and public actions aimed at protecting compatriots and highlighting the illegal actions of the occupation administration in Crimea. His detention was part of systematic persecution of Crimean Tatars on ethnic grounds based on fabricated charges.

On August 19, the FSB detained Medzhit Ablyamitov on charges of “participating in the activities of an illegal armed formation operating on the territory of a foreign state for purposes contrary to the interests of the Russian Federation (Part 2 of Article 208 of the Russian Criminal Code).” The special services claimed that in 2016, he left for mainland Ukraine and joined the Noman Çelebicihan Battalion, created by Lenur Islyamov.

The occupying state accused the Crimean Tatar of fabricated charges of allegedly participating in the Ukrainian Defense Forces in 2016.

The accusation insisted that in 2016, the Crimean resident “voluntarily joined an armed formation operating on the territory of Ukraine..., not provided for by the legislation of this state, which operates for purposes contrary to the interests of the Russian Federation.” There, he was trained to use and provided with firearms. The FSB believes that his duties included guarding the battalion's location, assisting the Ukrainian border service during joint patrols of the border zone, and checking individuals and vehicles at checkpoints. After Ablyamitov returned to Crimea, he continued to maintain contacts with battalion members and “did not declare his voluntary cessation of participation in the illegal armed formation.”

In court, Ablyamitov initially stated that he was indeed in the Noman Çelebicihan detachment, but did not commit any illegal actions and never possessed weapons or underwent military training. Later, he adjusted his position and clarified that he was in the officially registered civil association “Asker” in Ukraine, which the Noman Çelebicihan detachment effectively became in 2016 after being denied official status.

Several people who were also part of the battalion testified against Ablyamitov. However, at the hearing on January 21, 2021, Aydin Mamutov, previously convicted on similar charges, retracted his testimony. He stated that FSB officers brought him interrogation protocols to sign without allowing him to read them, effectively falsifying the case materials.

Immediately after the detention, businessman, ATR TV channel general director, and vice-president of the World Congress of Crimean Tatars Lenur Islyamov, who created the battalion, stated that he did not know Ablyamitov and that he never served in the battalion.

The FSB applied psychological pressure to extract necessary testimonies from him, forcing him to sign a confession to something he did not commit.

Currently, Medzhit is in Correctional Colony No. 6, Astrakhan, Russian Federation.

Information used from open sources: Representation of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, Association of Relatives of Kremlin Political Prisoners, Zmina.info.

Photo: Crimean Solidarity

Update date: 01.07.2026.