In the temporarily occupied Crimea, Russians have shut down yet another Islamic school.

In the Simferopol district of Crimea, an Islamic school has been closed by the decision of the occupying "court." Out of more than 2,200 religious organizations that operated on the peninsula as of 2014, fewer than a thousand remain by January 2024.

This was reported by the President's Representation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

“By the decision of the so-called court, the occupiers closed the Islamic school in the Simferopol district of Crimea. The school operated independently of the so-called Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Crimea and Sevastopol (DUMK). The official reason for the closure was allegedly the promotion of the ideology of Habashismі ,” the statement reads.

The representation notes that the closure of the Islamic school in the Simferopol district and the repression against independent religious communities is further evidence of the occupying administration's attempts to destroy the religious and national identity of Crimean Tatars, limiting freedom of religion and human rights in the temporarily occupied territory.

According to the representation, out of 2,220 religious organizations that operated in Crimea as of 2014, only 932 remained by January 2024. This is the result of the illegal imposition of Russian legislation, systematic pressure on religious leaders, and persecution of religious communities that refuse to cooperate with the occupying administration.

According to the Kremlin-loyal muftiate, at the beginning of 2023, there were 10 mosques in Crimea that were not under its control. “Deputy Mufti” Aider Ismailov explicitly stated that their liquidation is being carried out with the assistance of the “law enforcement agencies” of the occupying administration.

Moreover, according to the President's Representation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, more than 100 cases of persecution of Crimean Tatars on religious grounds were recorded in January 2024 alone.

It is worth noting that in July of last year, two Muslim religious schools were closed in occupied Simferopol, where Russian security forces allegedly found violations and literature banned in the Russian Federation.

Earlier, ZMINA reported that according to the President's Representation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, about 700,000 Muslims have found themselves under Russian occupation. At least 300,000 have become internally displaced persons.