Ukraine publishes emergency guide for residents of occupied Crimea

Ukraine's Center for Strategic Communications has published a guide advising residents of Russian-occupied Crimea how to prepare for emergencies and possible fighting during the peninsula’s eventual de-occupation.

The "Dovidka.Crimea" brochure, available in Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar, was compiled using recommendations from Ukrainian state agencies, emergency services, civil society groups, and experts.

"People's lives and safety are Ukraine's highest value," the center said, warning that military operations would increase risks for civilians and that advance preparation offered the best protection.

The guide recommends that families prepare for scenarios in which relatives are separated when an emergency begins.

"Agree in advance on a meeting point, routes and a general plan of action," the brochure says. Families should also decide how to communicate during outages and ensure everyone carries a written list of important telephone numbers.

Residents are advised to prepare water, nonperishable food, medicine, cash, copies of documents, power banks, flashlights, warm clothing, and an emergency bag. The guide also covers shelters, evacuation, mine safety, water purification, information security, and questioning by Russian authorities.

Those crossing Russian checkpoints are advised to remove sensitive pro-Ukrainian material from their devices and disable biometric unlocking. Residents with access to Ukrainian resources should prioritize information from official government, military, and emergency-service channels.

Russia occupied and illegally annexed Crimea in 2014. In recent months, Ukrainian forces have increasingly targeted power substations, bridges, ferry crossings, air defenses, military logistics routes, and Russian vessels in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov as part of a broader campaign to isolate Crimea.