DISINFO: Ukrainian community in Crimea says there is no hint of national hostility on the peninsula
SUMMARY
Ukrainians who live in Crimea got the opportunity to comfortably integrate into the cultural, social and economic space of Russia. This was announced at the UN Security Council by video conference from the inhabitants of the peninsula themselves. They got the opportunity to speak at the meeting of the organisation for the first time. According to the head of the Ukrainian community of Crimea, Anastasia Gridchina, there is no hint of national hostility on the peninsula: after reunification with Russia, no one perceived Ukrainians as strangers.
RESPONSE
Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Crimea. The TV channel cites Anastasia Gridchina, the president of the Ukrainian Community in Crimea. The "Ukrainian Community in Crimea" is a Kremlin-controlled organisation, headed by members of Russia’s ruling party United Russia. The organisation was established in 2016, two years after Russia annexed Crimea and its purpose is to showcase a positive life for Ukrainians on the occupied peninsula. According to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), legislation and administrative measures that discriminate against certain ethnic groups and indigenous peoples continue to be applied in the annexed Crimea. These include measures concerning matters of citizenship, learning the Ukrainian language, registration of religious communities and activities of Crimean Tatar self-government bodies, including the Mejlis. In addition to that, UN CERD noted that Russia had not provided information on what actions had been taken to investigate and prosecute those responsible for violating the rights of Crimean Tatars, which included the cases of forced disappearances of people, arbitrary detentions and inhuman treatment. The Committee concluded that the government of the Russian Federation had not complied with the Committee’s previous recommendations. The UN continues to document violations of international human rights and humanitarian law perpetrated by the Russian Federation, as the occupying Power, including deportations of protected persons, forced conscription and restrictions on freedom of expression. Anti-Discrimination Centre “Memorial”, in partnership with other organisations, has earlier submitted several reports (1) (2) on discrimination of Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians in Crimea to the UN CERD.