The Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol has initiated criminal proceedings on the facts of illegal imprisonment of Crimean Tatars on the territory of the occupied peninsula, the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO )said.

"According to the investigation, on November 23, 2021, near the temporary detention facility in Simferopol, 'occupational law enforcement officers' groundlessly detained citizens of Ukraine, including a child, women and journalists who came to meet lawyer Edem Semedlyaev," the PGO said.

The detainees were taken to three police stations in Simferopol. After holding the night, some of the citizens were released, having drawn up protocols on them about alleged administrative offenses.

Criminal proceedings were initiated under Part 2 of Article 146 (illegal imprisonment or kidnapping) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

It is noted that this is the sixth mass detention of Crimean Tatars from September 2021.