Since the occupation of the Crimean peninsula and the city of Sevastopol in February-March 2014, the establishment of effective control over the territory, and the spread of its legislation, the Russian Federation has launched a largescale policy with the ultimate goal of complete and irreversible “integration of new territories into the Russian Federation.” To achieve this, the occupation authorities, as the primary method, have created an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty in Crimea, complemented by a policy of colonizing the occupied territory at the expense of the RF citizens. The peculiarity of this atmosphere is that it affects mainly the disloyal and potentially disloyal part of the population without affecting the way of life and feelings of the people who not only openly seek to express their loyalty but also the part that manifests this loyalty latently.

The ultimate goal of Russia’s top political leadership is at least the partial extermination of Ukrainians as a nation and the forced assimilation of the majority of the Ukrainian population into the Russian nation. The persons involved in this crime aim to eliminate the politically and socially active core of the Ukrainian nation, “re-educating” the passive majority in a spirit that will make it impossible for Ukraine to exist as a sovereign and independent state.

The main instruments of the mentioned policy are the use of discriminatory law enforcement practices against the “disloyal” population, which is mainly composed of Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars, forced assimilation with the Russian identity, destruction of Ukrainian monuments, and “correct” reinterpretation of history, language, and religious dogmas, etc.

This study aims to describe the tools and methods used by the Russian Federation in treating the categories mentioned above of population in Crimea, to qualify such actions of the Russian Federation following international law, and to identify the circle of perpetrators.

A separate component of the study is recommendations for the Ukrainian and international communities on the necessary measures to prevent and stop the unlawful actions of the Russian Federation in Crimea, which may contain elements of racial discrimination or discriminatory persecution.

The project is implemented with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic as a part of the Transition Promotion Program. The views represented in this material belong to the authors and do not reflect the official position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.