Russian forces arrest senior Crimean Tatar figure

By Talha Yavuz

KYIV, Ukraine (AA) - Russian security forces arrested the deputy head of the Crimean Tatar National Assembly, the chairman of the assembly said on Saturday.

Refat Chubarov said on social media that Nariman Dzhelyal was being held in the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) building in Crimea after he was taken into custody at his home in Akmescit, Crimea.

Russian forces entered the Crimean Peninsula in February 2014, with President Vladimir Putin formally dividing the region into two separate federal subjects of the Russian Federation the following month.

Turkey and the US as well as the UN General Assembly view the annexation as illegal.