Ukrainians in occupied Crimea subject to massive discrimination – research

That’s according to a conclusion of the research by Andriy Ivanets, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Member of the National Council of Ukrainians of Crimea, which was presented in Ukrinform.

The study says that, under the temporary occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol by Russia, ethnic Ukrainians have become a discriminated ethnic community.

Components of Russia's discriminatory policy toward Crimean Ukrainians include persecution, repression of or driving leaders and activists of the Crimean Ukrainian community out of the peninsula, anti-Ukrainian agenda and propaganda pressure on the Crimean population and creation of a Ukrainophobic climate in the temporarily occupied territory in general, the unlawful artificial isolation of Crimea from Ukraine’s information and humanitarian space, the ban on the activities of Ukrainian political and most of the civic organizations, restrictions of the right to freedom of assembly, de facto restrictions of the right to use Ukrainian national symbols, liquidation of institutions of Ukrainian, including Ukrainian-language education and culture.

The study states that before the Russian invasion of 2014, Ukrainians made up approximately a quarter of the population of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and made a significant contribution to the economy, cultural and social life of the Crimean peninsula. After the occupation of this part of Ukraine, the situation changed dramatically – Russia destroyed political and most of the civic organizations of Ukrainians, completely eliminated the system of Ukrainian and Ukrainian-language education, started persecuting leaders and activists of the Ukrainian community, exerted mass informational and psychological pressure on ethnic Ukrainians, oppressed religious denominations where Ukrainians make up the majority, and has been expelling citizens of Ukraine from the occupied territory and populating the area with citizens of Russia resettling from the mainland.

The study was conducted to analyze the state of the community of ethnic Ukrainians in Crimea in 2014-2020, which under the temporary occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol by Russia has become one of the two most discriminated ethnic groups in the region.

The research was presented within the framework of the Working Group on Humanitarian Policy of the Crimea Platform Expert Network.

The participants in the event received a copy of the report printed by the Ukrainian Culture publishing house with the support of People's Deputy of Ukraine Bohdan Yaremenko.

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