Detention: On the night of November 15-16, 2025, Russian security forces conducted a search at the Fakhriyev family home and detained 65-year-old Seitkhalil Fakhriyev along with his son Ruslan. After the detention, both men were taken to an unknown location, and their whereabouts were concealed for a long time.

Sentence: As of July 22, 2026, there is no final sentence. According to the Crimean Tatar Resource Center and the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, the occupation authorities have initiated a criminal case against Seitkhalil Fakhriyev under the article for an alleged 'terrorist act' (Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Seitkhalil Fakhriyev was born in 1960. He is a Crimean Tatar, residing in the village of Amurske (Alabash-Konrat) in the Nyzhnohirskyi district of occupied Crimea. The Fakhriyev family returned to Crimea from places of deportation in the early 1990s after decades of forced exile of the Crimean Tatar people. According to Mejlis representatives, Seitkhalil was respected among villagers and known as a law-abiding person who never engaged in illegal activities.

On the night of November 15-16, 2025, Russian security forces broke into the Fakhriyev family home. After conducting a search, they detained Seitkhalil and his 36-year-old son Ruslan Fakhriyev. Relatives were not informed of the reasons for the detention or the location of their confinement. After this, all contact with the men was lost.

During the detention, Seitkhalil's wife, Ayshe Fakhriyeva, experienced severe psychological stress. According to the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, after witnessing the Russian security forces take her husband and son away, she was hospitalized in a critical condition. Human rights defenders described these actions as an example of collective punishment of the entire family and psychological pressure on Crimean Tatars.

In the days following the detention, Russian occupation authorities refused to provide the family with any information about the whereabouts of Seitkhalil and Ruslan. The Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People stated that concealing their location had signs of enforced disappearance and expressed serious concern that the detainees might be subjected to torture or other cruel treatment to extract confessions.

Later, the occupation authorities disseminated information that the father and son were allegedly suspected of a 'terrorist act.' However, no convincing evidence or details of the charges were presented. Human rights organizations emphasize that the use of 'terrorism' charges has become one of the main tools for persecuting Crimean Tatars and other pro-Ukrainian residents of occupied Crimea.

As of July 22, 2026, Seitkhalil Fakhriyev remains unlawfully detained. There is no information in open independent sources about the case being transferred to court, a sentence being issued, or his release. His case remains an example of politically motivated persecution of civilian Crimean Tatars in the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea.

Information used from open sources: Suspilne Crimea, Crimean Tatar Resource Center, Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, Office of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

Update date: July 22, 2026.