By Olha Hembik | 2025-05-06

WARSAW -- On a quiet morning in Simferopol, Russian-occupied Crimea, stickers bearing a defiant message -- "The resistance will continue even when the world trembles" -- began appearing on the streets. The act was small, but the signal was unmistakable. Even under the weight of Russian occupation, Crimean women are finding ways to fight back.

Led by groups like Zla Mavka, a female-driven Ukrainian resistance movement, these women are resisting both militarily and symbolically. They are waging a quieter battle to preserve their language, customs and culture in the face of erasure.

Zla Mavka shows woman power

"We managed to remind [the occupation authorities] not to forget where they are," said a Crimean member of Zla Mavka, talking about the appearance of stickers on May 2. She spoke anonymously for safety reasons, her face covered in a video interview with Crimea.Realities.

In another act of defiance, members of Zla Mavka printed leaflets disguised as Russian rubles but embedded with subversive Ukrainian symbolism.

"For example, we had the 'Crimea Is Ukraine' design, a banknote design showing the sinking of the Moskva cruiser. The girls scattered this 'money' everywhere," the organization member said, referring to Ukraine's sinking of the Russian Black Sea Fleet's flagship in April 2022.

Beyond these bold public gestures, Zla Mavka works to safeguard Ukrainian culture behind closed doors. Its members study the Ukrainian language, preserve traditional embroidered shirts and pass down Kobzar, the collection of poetry by Taras Shevchenko that remains a cornerstone of national identity.

Yellow Ribbon

On April 30, members of the pro-Ukrainian Yellow Ribbon movement marked the streets of Sevastopol, Simferopol and Yevpatoriya with Ukrainian symbols, later writing about it on their Telegram channel.

Founded in 2022 in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion, Yellow Ribbon has become known for its audacious acts of protest, including a dramatic display on Mount Shaan-Kaya near Alupka, where activists raised a Ukrainian flag into the sky using balloons to mark the Day of the National Flag August 23, 2023.

The movement claims a growing network of more than 12,000 members with almost 17,000 followers tracking its activities on Telegram. A chatbot on the channel helps bring new recruits aboard, and recent weeks have seen residents from smaller towns like Balaklava and Simeiz joining forces with activists in Simferopol, Yalta, Yevpatoriya and Feodosia.

Crimean Tatar cultural protest

Crimean Tatars were among the first to face repression after Russia's occupation of the peninsula. Many have been imprisoned or killed, according to Tamila Tasheva, Ukraine's permanent representative in Crimea.

"The occupiers are persecuting and detaining residents of occupied Crimea because of their political views, ethnicity or religious affiliation," Tasheva told Kontur. Despite the risks, she said, some still speak out on social media and resist in quiet ways.

Forced into exile in 2014, restaurateur Shevket Yuzbashev now runs a Crimean Tatar restaurant in Warsaw but remains in touch with relatives back home. He expressed deep concern over the closure of Crimean Tatar schools and kindergartens, calling it one of the most troubling developments.

"But organizations like Atesh and Fidan have appeared, where children learn Crimean Tatar dances and culture, where our flags, music and voice are appearing," Yuzbashev told Kontur. "Everyone sends his [or her] children to these dances. My nephews and grandchildren are learning."

'Every wedding is like a rally'

Crimean Tatar weddings in Crimea, once open community celebrations, have become discreet gatherings where political expression happens out of sight, "without prying eyes and ears."

"At weddings, there are only our own Crimean Tatar music and our own political conversations. Every wedding is like a rally, and half of the wedding is spent talking about politics," Yuzbashev said.

Displaying a Ukrainian flag at such events, however, is out of the question.

"You're a terrorist," Yuzbashev said, describing the Kremlin's view of those who display a Ukrainian flag. Reflecting on the shift in daily life under occupation, he added, "I lived in Crimea since 1972 [until 2014], and I can say that everything has now returned to how it was during the Soviet era."

Repression of Crimean Tatars continues, with many targeted over long-standing support for Ukraine, he said. Occupation authorities, who aggressively suppress even minor acts of symbolic dissent, treat pro-Ukrainian views as a threat.

Activists from Yellow Ribbon point to examples documented on the pro-Russian Telegram propaganda channel Crimean SMERSH.

In Sudak, a shop assistant placed yellow and blue chrysanthemums in the same vase. Someone posted her photo and personal information immediately online.

In Simferopol, a garage owner painted his door in the colors of the Ukrainian flag, only to be reported by "concerned" passersby.

Such incidents often lead to criminal cases.

'Do everything you can'

Crimean Tatars traditionally had climbed the sacred mountain Chatyr-Dag for a shared prayers on or around May 18, the anniversary of the 1944 Soviet expulsion of Tatars from Crimea.

Since 2014, the event had become a form of protest against Russia's illegal annexation. The Kremlin outlawed the protest climb in 2021.

"I was struck by how many people in Crimea don't support its occupation," said Olga Mikhailyuk, Кyiv-based multidisciplinary artist and Crimean activist, who used to climb Chatyr-Dag every year.

"Now the occupiers have banned this tradition, so I wondered what can I do? A Crimean Tatar told me, 'do everything you can, and God will do the rest,'" she told Kontur.

In response, Mikhailyuk began documenting the occupation through text, photos and video. "The people who remained in Crimea are forced to remain silent. But history [in Crimea] is not over yet," she said, referring to Crimeans' protest movements.