Crimea Bans Publication of Shelling Aftermath

In temporarily occupied Crimea, the local occupying authorities have introduced a ban on publishing the aftermath of drone and missile attacks.

The Astra news outlet reported on this.

“A prohibition is being enacted across the Republic of Crimea on the dissemination via media, social networks, and messaging apps of photos, videos, geographic coordinates, and any other information that could reveal the locations of air defense systems, weapons, equipment, and temporary military deployment sites; the results of terrorist acts, sabotage, or other emergency events; as well as the impact sites, crashes, and detonations of missiles, drones, and unmanned maritime robotic systems,” the decree of the region’s ‘head’ states.

This is not the first Russia-controlled region where the local “authorities” have introduced similar bans. In at least 12 regions, they have already begun fining citizens for publishing information about the strikes of Ukrainian drones.

Although a group of Russian senators drafted a package of amendments that would have imposed penalties for publishing any military-related information, the legislative initiative was not adopted at the federal level – its implementation was delegated to the regional authorities.

As of early June, 42 protocols concerning violations of the ban established by the regional operational headquarters on the dissemination of information about the consequences of drone strikes had been submitted to the courts in the Kaluga region. One protocol was filed in the Tula region.

In two cases, the defendants were media outlets; in five cases, local residents who recorded videos of the strikes and posted them online. Three other protocols concerned comments made on social networks. The rest involved administrators or owners of Telegram channels, VKontakte public accounts, and authors of personal accounts.

Fines range from 3,000 to 200,000 rubles, depending on the region and the recurrence of the offense.

At the end of June 2025, satellite images confirmed damage to aviation equipment and air defense systems following an attack by the Security Service of Ukraine on the Kirovske air base in temporarily occupied Crimea.

According to the satellite images, the destruction of a Pantsir-S1 surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery system and three helicopters, which have not yet been identified, has been confirmed.

Meanwhile, the Security Service of Ukraine reported that among the damaged equipment were transport helicopters Mi-8, Mi-26, and the attack helicopter Mi-28.

The day before, a video was released showing long-range UJ-26 Bober drones striking a Russian Su-30 fighter jet, as well as radars and a Pantsir-S1 system in Crimea.