Occupants are exploiting religious community leaders in Crimea as propaganda tools, according to the Representation of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

The Russian Federation systematically utilizes religious figures from temporarily occupied territories (TOT) as a propaganda tool, creating the illusion that the situation has supposedly improved after the occupation.

This was stated by Yevgeny Bondarenko, head of the information support department of the President's Office in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, during the second Interreligious Dialogue titled “Processes of Deoccupation and Reintegration of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol. Key Challenges, Risks, and Ways to Overcome Them.” The event was initiated by the representation and the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience.

It was reported that participants gathered to discuss key aspects of deoccupation, the reintegration of Crimea, determine tasks for international advocacy, and educational initiatives within the framework of cognitive deoccupation policy. They paid special attention to the role of religious institutions in the processes of restoring justice and developing public resilience in the context of Crimea’s deoccupation.

According to Yevgeny Bondarenko, the aggressor country has been resorting to the repression of religious communities in TOT for several years. The representation estimates that the Russian Federation will only intensify efforts in this direction. This is why it is crucial to actively collaborate with religious communities to present the real picture of the situation regarding freedom of conscience in TOT.

Permanent Representative Olga Kurishko noted that religious persecution in Crimea has taken on a systematic character, and last year's dismantling of the last Ukrainian church in Yevpatoria was yet another testament to this policy. She emphasized that the representation actively documents instances of repression and engages the international community in responding to human rights violations on the occupied peninsula.

Expert of the Council on Cognitive Deoccupation of Crimea and co-founder of the National Platform for Resilience and Cohesion, Yulia Tishchenko, referring to the results of the study “Cognitive Deoccupation of Crimea”, emphasized that there is a lack of information about Crimea in the Ukrainian space, and the level of awareness among residents of mainland Ukraine, particularly Crimean Tatars, about the peninsula is low, making it important to highlight the topic of Crimea.

Chairman of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (GESS) Viktor Yelensky emphasized the danger of becoming accustomed to war and blurring the lines between the aggressor and the victim. He noted that society must remember the occupation of Crimea and the mass violations of human rights on the peninsula.

“One of the greatest threats today is the blurring of boundaries of this war – its perception as an everyday reality, where the line between victim and aggressor is erased. We must constantly remind that Crimea is occupied, that human rights are systematically violated there, and that great injustice is being done. Crimes against freedom of conscience cannot be silenced – they must be discussed by both clergymen abroad and international partners,” Yelensky emphasized.

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Discussion members underscored the importance of creating quality educational programs about the religious and cultural heritage of Crimea, expanding cooperation with international partners, and activating religious diplomacy.

Separately, participants raised the issue of international advocacy: many leaders of religious organizations are already actively working abroad, and a proposal was made to analyze the calendar of international events for the year.

It was reported that meeting participants agreed on cooperation in various directions within Ukraine, particularly regarding regular consultations and feedback on communication messages and narratives concerning the cognitive deoccupation of the Crimean Peninsula developed by the representation.

Additionally, participants decided to prepare a series of joint events to unite the efforts of churches and religious organizations in matters of cognitive deoccupation of Crimea and their role in broader societal processes.

Permanent Representative Olga Kurishko and GESS Chairman Viktor Yelensky noted that the representation and GESS are ready to be reliable partners in collaborative work.

On the eve, the Crimean Human Rights Group published an Overview of the Situation Regarding Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Compliance in Temporarily Occupied Crimea for 2024, which outlined the scale of persecution of Christians and Muslims by Russians on the peninsula.

The human rights organization reminds that in 2017, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation recognized the “Jehovah's Witnesses” as an extremist organization and banned their activities in the territory of the Russian Federation. The Russian Federation unlawfully extends this practice to Crimean cells of the “Jehovah's Witnesses.”

Since 2018, persecution of “Jehovah's Witnesses” has begun under criminal cases. In 2020, illegal “courts” in temporarily occupied Crimea issued the first sentences against members of the “Jehovah's Witnesses” organization, resulting in imprisonment.

The Crimean Human Rights Group reports that during the period of temporary occupation of the peninsula, at least 13 Crimeans have received guilty verdicts from “courts” on charges of involvement in the religious organization “Jehovah's Witnesses.”

According to illegal sentences, the following individuals have ended up behind bars:

• Artem Gerasimov;
• Alexander Dubovenko;
• Yevgeny Zhukov;
• Alexander Litvinyuk;
• Vladimir Maladyka;
• Vladimir Sakada;
• Viktor Stashevsky;
• Sergey Filatov;
• Igor Schmidt;
• Artem Shablii;
• Maxim Zinchenko;
• Sergey Parfenovich;
• Yuri Geraschenko.

In 2024, “courts” on the peninsula issued sentences against at least three believers:

• Resident of Feodosia Maxim Zinchenko – two years of forced labor (“Nakhimovsky District Court” of Sevastopol).
• Residents of Krasnogvardeysky Sergey Parfenovich and Yuri Geraschenko – six years of conditional imprisonment (“Krasnogvardeysky District Court”). However, the illegal “Supreme Court” of Crimea changed the conditional sentence to six years in prison.
• Resident of Dzhankoy Viktor Ursu was released from house arrest, replacing the measure of restraint with a pledge not to leave and to behave properly.

In 2024, the occupiers illegally conducted at least 17 searches of “Jehovah's Witnesses.”

Due to the oppression and intimidation of religious leaders who do not profess the Russian Orthodox faith, arbitrary raids on places of worship, and confiscation of religious property, on June 25, 2024, the European Court of Human Rights established a violation by the occupying country of Article 9 of the European Convention on the Right to Freedom of Religion.

The ECHR indicated that Russia's interference with the right to freedom of religion was unlawful, and the respondent government did not provide any legitimate aims or justification for it.

Recently, ZMINA reported that law enforcement agencies joined efforts to investigate religious oppression and the destruction of cultural heritage in occupied Crimea.