In February 2014, in violation of international law, the Russian Federation occupied and subsequently extended its legislation to the territory of the Crimean peninsula. At the same time, the Russian Federation launched a policy aimed at forcibly changing the demographic composition of the population, one of the components of which is the transfer of Ukrainian citizens out of the peninsula to «serve sentences» of deprivation of freedom or restriction of freedom.

As of 2022, the Russian Federation has transferred more than 12,500 convicts from the occupied Crimean peninsula to its territory to at least 102 correctional institutions in 42 regions, including Omsk, Orenburg, Penza, Nizhny Novgorod regions, Komi, Mordovia and Yakutia (Sakha) Republics, Krasnoyarsk, Magadan, etc. In addition, a convicted person may be transferred across the territory of the Russian Federation several times during one sentence at the discretion of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN).

The project is implemented with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic as a part of the Transition Promotion Program. The views represented in this material belong to the authors and do not reflect the official position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.