Krivoy Rog, Kryvyy Rih in Ukrainian, is a city in southeastern Ukraine (The Columbia Encyclopedia 2001), with a 2001 population of 667,000 people (Uryadovyy Kuryer 30 May 2002).

Adherents.com, using various sources dating from 1996-1998, estimated the size of the Mormon community in Ukraine as between 3,100-5,000 members in 37-52 "units" (4 Nov. 2000). According to more recent sources, "[a]t the beginning of 2002, there were 32 Mormon communities in Ukraine, 27 of which were fully registered with the government" (RISU 25 July 2002) and 19 churches with 5 under construction (Liudyna i Svit 1 Jan. 2002). The latter source did not provide details of the community's size.

A 1999 graphic published by the Gathering of Israel site, which claims to serve international members of the Mormon community, shows only Kiev and Donetsk as having Mormon missions in Ukraine (Gathering of Israel 25 July 1999).

The "Unofficial Ukraine Donetsk Mission Website" includes a graphic showing Kryvyy Rih as just within the mission's "approximate boundaries" (1 Nov. 1999). A second graphic identified Kryvyy Rih as not among the 10 cities where missionaries were "serving" by 2000 (ibid. 10 June 2000). These cities include Kharkhov, Donetsk, Dnepropetrovsk, Makeyevka, Gorlovka, Zaporozhe, Mariupol, Lugansk, Poltava and Sumi (ibid.; Gathering of Israel 21 May 2000).

The cities closest to Kryvyy Rih having branches of the Donetsk mission include Zaporozhe, where there are two branches and 130 members (UUDMW 28 Aug. 2000), and Dnepropetrovsk, where there were four branches (ibid. 1 Mar. 2000a). The mission headquarters in Donetsk claimed six branches in two districts totalling 750 members in 2000 (ibid. 1 Mar. 2000b).

A 1997 description of the Donetsk noted that the Mission's church "meets in different rented buildings" including a renovated movie theatre called Domo Kino, but "will soon be building [a] permanent meeting house" (UDM 11 Mar. 1997). Since this report two dedicated meeting houses in Kiev and one in Donetsk are mentioned, with one report inferring that these were the only ones in Ukraine (Mormon News 12 Oct. 2001).

The Research Directorate was unable to find specific information concerning past or current Mormon activity or the treatment of Mormons in the city of Kryvyy Rih among sources consulted. Two reports noted that between September 1994 and April 1997, proselytizing in Dnepropetrovsk was forbidden by the government (UDM 10 July 1997; UUDMW 1 Mar. 2000).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Adherents.com. 4 November 2000. "Ukraine." http://www.adherents.com/adhloc/Wh_334.html [Accessed 29 Aug. 2002]

The Columbia Encyclopedia. 2001. Sixth edition. "Kryvyy Rih." Hosted by Bartleby.com. "http://www.bartleby.com/65/kr/KryvyyRi.html [Accessed 29 Aug. 2002]

Gathering of Israel. 21 May 2000. "Cities Open for Missionary Work in Eastern Europe." http://www.gatheringofisrael.com/resource/branches.htm [Accessed 30 Aug. 2002]

_____. 25 July 1999. Europe Graphic. http://www.gatheringofisrael.com/atlas/area/AREurope.gif [Accessed 29 Aug. 2002]

Liudyna i Svit [Kyiv, in Ukrainian]. January 2002. "Religious Organizations in Ukraine as of 1 January 2002." Translated and hosted by RISU. http://www.risu.org.ua/content.php?menu=1904&page_id=128&l=en [Accessed 29 Aug. 2002]

Mormon News. 12 October 2001. "LDS Church Dedicates First Ukrainian Meetinghouses." http://www.mormontoday.com/011012/Dlocal.shtml [Accessed 29 Aug. 2002]

Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU). 25 July 2002. "Mormons to Build in Poltava." http://www.risu.org.ua/article.php?sid=398&1=en [Accessed 29 Aug. 2002]

Ukraine Donetsk Mission (UDM). 10 July 1997. "Dnepropetrovsk." Archived on the Way Back Machine. http://web.archive.org/web/19970727195817/www.et.byu.edu/~parkje/dnepr.html [Accessed 30 Aug. 2002]

_____. 11 March 1997. "Information on Donetsk." http://web.archive.org/web/19970727195745/www.et.byu.edu/~parkje/dinfo.html [Accessed 30 Aug. 2002]

Last updated on 31 March 1999, the Ukraine Donetsk Mission (Unofficial) website is no longer accessible; however, it has been archived and can be viewed by using the Way Back Machine Internet Archive at http://www.archive.org/index.html

Unofficial Ukraine Donetsk Mission Website (UUDMW). 28 August 2000. "Zaporozhye." http://rynok.8m.com/cgi-bin/framed/1697/cities/zaporozhye.htm [Accessed 29 Aug. 2002]

_____. 10 June 2000. "Mission Cities." http://rynok.8m.com/cgi-bin/framed/1697/citiesmain.html [Accessed 29 Aug. 2002]

_____. 1 March 2000a. "Dnepropetrovsk." http://rynok.8m.com/cgi-bin/framed/1697/cities/dnepr.htm [Accessed 29 Aug. 2002]

_____. 1 March 2000b. "Donetsk." http://rynok.8m.com/cgi-bin/framed/1697/cities/donetsk.htm [Accessed 29 Aug. 2002]

_____. 1 November 1999. "Mission Map." http://rynok.8m.com/cgi-bin/framed/1697/themission/missionmap.html [Accessed 29 Aug. 2002]

Uryadovyy Kuryer [Kiev, in Ukrainian]. 30 May 2002. "Ukraine State Statistics Committee Reports Preliminary 2001 Census Figures." (FBIS-SOV-2002-0618 30 May 2002/WNC) (Uryadovyy Kuryer is an official government newspaper)

Additional Sources Consulted-

IRB Databases

NEXIS

Internet sites including:

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

City of Krivoy-rog webpage

Keston News Agency

Meridian Magazine

Mormons Today

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Ukraine Kiev Mission

World News Connection