Kyiv-based prosecutor's office for the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, together with Global Rights Compliance, sent to the International Criminal Court (ICC) the next, already 14th, package of evidence of crimes against humanity committed by the Russian Federation on the peninsula, which documents about 100 facts of persecution on religious grounds, the press service of the prosecutor's office reported on Tuesday.

"Since 2014, an important goal of the Russian occupation authorities on the peninsula has been to erase religious identity that does not meet the requirements of the Kremlin. The information sent contains evidence of persecution and pressure on religious communities in Crimea," the press service said on its official website on Tuesday.

As noted by head of the Prosecutor's Office of the autonomy Ihor Ponochovny, this is the 14th submission from Ukraine regarding war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the occupiers on the peninsula. The evidence contained in this submission is based on the materials of the criminal proceedings of the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomy. Currently, law enforcement authorities have documented at least 93 cases of persecution of representatives of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Jehovah's Witnesses, Muslims, Protestants and other members of religious communities.

"For example, as a result of such actions of the occupiers, the Crimean Diocese of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine has actually ceased to exist. If we talk about the Crimean Muslims, the occupation law enforcement officers have already developed standard schemes of action. The total term of imprisonment of all illegally convicted from Crimea is about 1,230 years," Ponochovny noted.

"Everything on the territory of the peninsula beyond the control of the occupation administration is either prohibited or persecuted. In January 2014, before the occupation, 2,220 religious organizations operated in Crimea. As of January 2024, there are 932 religious organizations," said Tamila Tasheva, Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, who was quoted by the press service.

According to her, as of January 2024, at least 100 cases of persecution of Crimean Tatars on religious grounds have been recorded. At the same time, it is worth noting that there are 208 Crimean political prisoners, 125 of whom are Crimean Tatars.

"The systemic actions of the Russian Federation have led to the destruction and liquidation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in Crimea. In May last year, the Russian occupation regime seized the Cathedral of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir and Princess Olga of the Crimean Diocese of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in the city of Simferopol. In fact, with these actions, the occupiers completely eliminated the activities of the Administration of the Crimean Diocese of the OCU (Orthodox Church of Ukraine). Since that time, the OCU in Crimea has temporarily ceased to function due to the risk to the lives of the clergy of the Ukrainian Church," the authorized representative of the Crimean Diocese of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Andriy Schekun, said.