Such a pro-Russian organization was founded in the Kherson region at a joint congress of delegates of local religious communities "Barakyat" (Henychesk), "Sary Bulat" (Novotroitske) and "Salam" (Meli).
As Interfax was told in the press service of the "new pro-Russian association", Memet Dursunov, the head of the Muslims of Henichesk, was elected as the head of the "Little Russian Muftiyat".
Now the new organization extends its jurisdiction to the territory of Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, uniting more than 60 communities.
According to pro-Russian Islamic scholar Roman Sylantiev, the initiative to create a new Muftiate came from the "spiritual leaders of the Crimean Tatars" who are members of the Tauride Muftiate under the leadership of Mufti Ruslan Saitvaliev. This pro-Russian entity controls about ten communities in Crimea.
"These people actively supported Russia in 2014 by helping to hold a referendum on the annexation of Crimea, and they have done the same now by uniting the Muslims of the liberated territories into a friendly Russian and orthodox Muslim centralized organization," Sylantyev told Interfax.
He noted that "it was very difficult to create a little Russian Muftiate in the former fiefdom of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people banned in Russia."