Russian soldiers storm cafe in annexed Crimea, beating civilians inside

On February 24, soldiers from the 81st “Bears” volunteer brigade attacked civilians in a cafe in Chornomorske, a village on the northwestern coast of annexed Crimea.

An outdoor security camera captured the incident on video, and the footage is now being circulated in local media. The video shows armed men in camouflage storming a cafe, pushing people to the ground, beating them with batons, and firing into the air.

One of the people present at the cafe recounted the incident to independent outlet iStories:

Two bald, rough-looking men, who beat the customers, turned out to be soldiers. They were drinking and celebrating February 23 [Defender of the Fatherland Day] in the cafe. They got into a conflict with people in the cafe, they didn’t like something, and they called for back up from the Bears unit. Armed people in masks stormed the establishment’s balcony, where people were talking and smoking, and started beating them. The conflict didn’t initially involve the people on the balcony. My boyfriend was forced onto a chair and brutally beaten with batons. His brother and friends, who tried to help him, were also beaten.

One person was hospitalized and others who were injured received medical attention.

Alexander Talipov, a Russian propagandist and founder of the Crimean SMERSH movement, confirmed the attack. He says that the attackers have been identified and criminal proceedings have been initiated against them. However, there has been no official announcement on the initiation of criminal proceedings.

According to Telegram channel Astra, the Bears unit commander (call sign “Jedi”) stated that the brawl’s instigators misled their fellow soldiers. When the soldiers “realized the situation,” they beat their intoxicated fellow soldiers and handed them over to the police, says Jedi.

The volunteer Bears unit was founded in 2023 under the protection of the local Russian-appointed authorities in annexed Crimea, says iStories. They are reportedly part of the Redut mercenary group and controlled by Russia’s Defense Ministry.