Russian FSB concocts 'terrorism' charges two months after abducting 24-year-old Crimean Tatar woman

Russia’s FSB and propaganda media have touted the supposed ‘arrest’ of Khatidzhe Buyukhchan on ‘treason’ and ‘terrorism’ charges over two months after the 24-year-old Crimean Tatar was abducted while travelling by coach from her home in Stary Krym to Simferopol in occupied Crimea.   As with the majority of such allegedly ‘thwarted acts of terrorism’, there is no proof that there was ever a plot for the FSB to ‘thwart’.  Had there been any evidence of Khatidzhe Buyukhchan’s  involvement in this purported plot or any other, the FSB would, surely, have openly arrested her.  Instead, the young woman was abducted, and held without any official status, making it possible to hide her whereabouts and deprive her of legal assistance and contact with her family.

The FSB claimed on 14 July 2025 to have thwarted “a terrorist attack” on a Russian defence ministry senior officer.  This was claimed to have been planned by Ukraine’s Security Service [SBU] although, typically, the explosive device, allegedly removed, is supposed to have been “western-made”.  No name is given, with Buyukhchan described only as having both Ukrainian and Russian citizenship and born in Stary Krym in the year 2000.  She is claimed to have been recruited by the SBU to use a bomb to blow up the car of a Russian military man on the eve of Victory Day (which in Russia is marked on 9 May).

The FSB claims to have established the identity of the SBY officers it claimed carried out the recruitment and preparations for what they insist on called an act of terrorism.  The so-called “perpetrator of the terrorist act has been detained; the western-made components of the explosive device removed, and criminal proceedings initiated under Articles 205 of Russia’s criminal code {‘an act of terrorism’) and Article 275 (‘state treason’)/ 

While the FSB do assert that the young woman was ‘recruited’ on the eve of Victory Day, that is the only hint that she had been held incommunicado, and without any charges being laid, for 69 days. 

The FSB also posted a four-minute video about the ‘arrest’, which claims that the SBU ‘recruited’ the young woman by making use of her interest in shooter video games, and proposing that she undergo special training in game form.  Khatidzhe, whose face is blurred, is seen giving a ‘videoed confession/, claiming that she settled in Crimea in a hotel room booked for her and was supposed to assemble an explosive device and plant it on a car.

Mediazona tracked down an occupation ‘court’ ruling in Sevastopol, jailing Buyukhchan on 12 May 2025 for four days on an administrative charge of ‘petty hooliganism’.  It was claimed that she had used foul language in a public place.  This has become a standard FSB ploy, with Crimean Tatars and other Ukrainians on several occasions facing one or several terms of administrative arrest on nonsensical charges, until the FSB finally comes up with criminal charges.

While information is scant, there are strong grounds for doubting all of the FSB claims.  Khatidzhe Buyukhchan, in fact, disappeared early on 6 May 2025, after leaving for Simferopol   Her family at least learned the following day that the young woman had been seized by enforcement officers, however there was no official confirmation of this, nor any information as to where she was being held.  Khatidzhe’s ‘confession’ was obtained, almost certainly through torture, threats or other forms of duress while the FSB were not admitting to holding her prisoner and were denying her any access to independent legal help.  With the use of such methods, the Crimean Tatar Resource Centre is, doubtless, right in suggesting that the Russians can abduct anyone.  Make the torture agonizing enough,  the threats, including against the person’s family, frightening enough, and virtually no one will hold out for long.