The impact of the Russian annexation of Crimea on the situation of churches operating on the territory of Crimea

In the springtime of 2014, incidents, that happened in the eastern part of Ukraine, led to take control over the Crimean Peninsula by the Russian Federation. At the same time, from the Donetsk region, came the information about many acts of violence, directed against the clergy and worshippers of the Christian communities other than the Russian Orthodox Church, supportive for the Kremlin authorities. Those incidents led us to formulate the following research question: what is the situation of the churches on the annexed peninsula? And further, the hypothesis that the situation of the churches on the annexed peninsula, except for the Russian Orthodox Church, has deteriorated. The research material, used in the article, is mostly based on the Ukrainian, Russian and English Internet sources, which have been analyzed in a quantitative and a qualitative way. As a result of these activities, the following communities have been distinguished to be analyzed: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate, the Catholic Church of the Ukrainian-Byzantine rite, the Roman Catholic Church and various Protestant churches. The text, constructed on the „subject-problem” system, has been divided into two main parts and the conclusion section. Following the research, it has been found that the legal position of the churches operating on the peninsula, except for the Russian Orthodox Church, had deteriorated. The admission of the Russian solutions regarding religious laws makes the implementation of the church activities (missional, pastoral, educational and charitable), as well as the cooperation with foreign partners much more difficult. Breach of the previous religious freedom on the Crimean Peninsula can be considered as a form of a persecution. The analysis of our sources allowed us to notify that the scale of repressions that the churches encounter, is diÄ erent. In the most difficult position is the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate, competitive with the Russian Orthodox Church. The situation of the Catholic Church of the Ukrainian-Byzantine rite, as well as the situation of the Evangelical churches (well-known for their inner missions) does not look better. The Catholic Church has also suffered from particular difficulties. In the light of the above analysis, we might conclude that the research hypothesis has been positively verified. We have emphasized that the current position of the analyzed churches from the annexed Crimean Peninsula is a consequence of the recent political conditions and the speci' city of the interdenominational relations existing in Ukraine, as well as the close ties between the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church. These connections are also a result of the actions undertaken by Vladimir Putin, in order to find new methods to legitimize his own political power. Consequently, he creates a framework for a „new national myth”, focusing on relations with the Russian Orthodox Church and the church traditions. The difficulties faced by churches described in the text, reflect the practices used in the Russian Federation towards „foreigners” minority communities (perceived as a threat to the confessional security of the country) before 2014. Some of these actions involuntarily led us to connotations with the persecutions of Christians and representatives of other religions, described by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in the first volume of the Gulag Archipelago (1973)