For almost two months now, the relatives of Appaz Kurtamet have not known anything about his fate. Appaz was a resident of Novoaleksiyivka who went missing at the Crimean border. His story can be read here.

On 19 August, Appaz turned 20. The guy did not reply to his mother's congratulation, as well as to her previous texts, although the message was read. “This is most likely an indication that the jailers are controlling Appaz's phone”, says the UA SOUTH's interocutor, a lawyer dealing with the Crimean Tatar prisoners' cases. According to his sources, Appaz is in a filtration camp in Crimea.

At the same time, the lawyer who undertook to help Kurtamet's family with the search for the guy sent an inquiry to the FSB about Appaz's whereabouts. No reply has been received yet.

One of Appaz's students, Oles Slusarevich, also talked to the UA SOUTH correspondent. Oles is now in the ZSU (the Armed Forces of Ukraine), and before Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine, he attended a Crimean Tatar course run by Kurtamet. 

"My interest in the Crimean Tatar language stems from the fact that I am a lawyer and work on the subject of the de-occupation of Crimea. I realized that the central issue here is the Crimean Tatar language. Without Crimean Tatars and considering their rights and interests, nothing good will happen in Crimea. So I decided to study this case. And it is impossible to understand the people without knowing their language," says Oles.

The student recalls Appaz as a very enthusiastic teacher who knows how to interest an audience.

“I have reached A2 level and can already listen to Crimean Tatar news. I understand about 60 percent. That's thanks to Appaz,” says the soldier. And he believes that Appaz will be released as soon as possible and that he will have more and more students.