The occupation authorities subjected religious minorities, in particular the UOC-KP, the UGCC, and Muslim Tatars, to harassment, intimidation, detentions, and beatings. They ordered all religious groups to reregister with the Russian government by January 1, 2015, or face loss of their legal status. On December 25 the deadline was extended until March 1, 2015. Russian forces reportedly prevented UOC-KP priests from entering their churches, resulting in a loss of UOC-KP control over most of their places of worship. The occupation authorities also raided mosques and confiscated literature they deemed “extremist.” They supported the creation of a pro-occupation Muslim organization in opposition to the Mejlis, the legally recognized representative body of the Crimean Tatars.

According to the UOC-KP and NGOs, the occupation authorities and “self-defense” groups engaged in a campaign of surveillance and intimidation against the UOC-KP since March. “Self-defense” groups protested in front of UOC-KP churches, intimidating parishioners, and Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) agents sat in churches, recording the names of parishioners. FSB agents reportedly met with all UOC-KP priests individually for what were termed “conversations.”

The UOC-KP reported that on June 1, members of the “self-defense” forces broke into the UOC-KP Intercession Church in Perevalne. They reportedly verbally abused the parish priest and beat his pregnant wife and daughter, who suffered from cerebral palsy. Police representatives who arrived at the scene reportedly sided with the attackers. A senior UOC-MP representative condemned the assault and appealed to UOC-KP followers to refrain from retaliatory violence against the UOC-MP. The occupation authorities refused to investigate the incident. The church was since closed.

Since the beginning of the Russian occupation of Crimea, UGCC priests reported harassment at the hands of the FSB and local pro-Russian militia. Priests, along with all other Crimean residents, were pressured to take Russian citizenship.

On March 15, members of the pro-Russian “self-defense” forces and police kidnapped Sevastopol-based Greek Catholic priest Mykola Kvych from his church during a religious service. Joined by Russian security officers, they questioned the priest for eight hours. According to Kvych, he was verbally and physically abused after his captors reportedly found bulletproof vests in his apartment that they said he had intended to give to Ukrainian military personnel stationed in Crimea. They also accused Kvych of supplying weapons to the Ukrainian Navy. He left Crimea upon his release.

UGCC Yalta priest Ihor Havryliv and Yevpatoria priest Bogdan Kostetsky reportedly went into hiding after hearing that members of pro-Russian militia might detain them.

On June 6, the AUCCRO expressed concern over attempts to spark religious hatred and draw religious groups into violent confrontation within Crimea. The AUCCRO urged the occupation authorities in Crimea to prevent the use of violence in dealing with interdenominational relations. It also called on all religious groups not to give in to provocations, but to honor the freedom of worship and promote religious peace.

The occupation authorities ordered all religious groups to register with the Russian federal government by January 1, 2015. In December the deadline was extended until March 1, 2015. If an organization did not register by that time, it would lose its legal status, including the right to own property and control bank accounts, among other rights. Only Russian citizens could register a religious organization. The Government of the Russian Federation conferred Russian citizenship on all residents of Crimea unless they specifically opted out. Many members of religious minorities, especially Tatars, Greek Catholics, and members of the UOC-KP, refused Russian citizenship. Those who refused Russian citizenship, or who were citizens of other nations, were subject to expulsion if they were not granted residency.

On October 20, the AUCCRO, individual religious leaders, and NGOs expressed concern that under Russian law religious organizations which had existed in their localities for less than 15 years would be ineligible to reregister their statutes and would either cease to exist or have to join one of Russia’s existing religious associations.

On April 26, the Crimean Diocese of the UOC-KP released a statement that Russian soldiers had denied its priest and his parish members access to the St. Clement Church in Sevastopol. As of October, the UOC-KP reported that two out of thirteen UOC-KP churches in the Crimea were no longer under its control.

The Crimean Tatar community refused to recognize Russia’s attempted annexation of Crimea and refused to take part in the “referendum” conducted by the occupying authorities to support annexation. The Tatar community also refused to participate in the elections staged by the occupying authorities to form a new Crimean government.

The occupation authorities reportedly utilized Russian laws banning “extremism,” which allowed officials to prohibit the activity of a religious association and to confiscate religious materials, to target Tatar communities and Muslim institutions. Because religion and ethnicity are often closely linked, it is difficult to categorize many incidents as being solely based on religious identity.

On April 22, Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzhemilev told Channel Five, a Ukrainian news outlet, that Russian FSB officers maintained a conspicuous presence at Crimean mosques, taking note of “who has a longer beard” and “how religious people are” in an apparent effort to categorize devout Muslims as “Islamic radicals.”

The occupation authorities conducted searches at Crimean mosques and other religious and educational Muslim buildings in order to seize Islamic publications viewed by the Government of the Russian Federation as “extremist.” On August 27, a court in Dzhankoy found a madrassah director guilty of possessing “extremist materials.” The court fined the director and confiscated the publications.

On September 17, the occupation authorities raided a mosque, a school, and four residences of Tatar Muslims, seeking “extremist” materials. The Borchokrak Mosque was raided and the occupation authorities prevented worshipers from entering. On September 22, the occupation authorities raided the Derekoi Mosque in Yalta seeking “extremist” materials. Two pamphlets were found. The Turkish imam was summoned for questioning. By November eight of 10 Tatar religious schools had been searched by the occupation authorities.

In August the Tauride Muftiate was formed by the occupation authorities as a competing Muslim organization to the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Crimea. In September the Tauride Muftiate took over the Juma-Jami Mosque in Evpatoria. Tatar Muslims said they believed the occupation authorities had created the Tauride Muftiate in order to supplant local Muslim leadership and said it was supervised by the Russian FSB.

Officials put in place to administer Russian law in the territory denied residence permission to foreign religious leaders who previously had been granted permanent residency by the government in Kyiv. They denied residency permits to all 23 Turkish imams working with the Tatar Muslim community. They also refused requests to extend the residency permit for Piotr Rosochacki, a Polish citizen and parish priest in Simferopol. The Greek Catholic Church reported only four of its 12 congregations in Crimea had a priest because of the de facto authorities’ refusal to grant residency permits.

Baptist congregations stated authorities had restricted their activities and they could no longer conduct Sunday school or sporting events without permission.

The occupation authorities raised rents in historical buildings they controlled, in one case up to 50,000 hryvnia per month ($3,171), for some UOC-KP churches located in historic buildings that were the property of the Ukrainian government and had been rented to UOC-KP congregations for nominal fees. UOC-KP officials said they might not be able to pay the new rental amount.