On Religious Freedom in Ukraine: Debunking Russian Propaganda

Юрій Попченко

11 Квітня, 2024, 00:16

The closer the elections in America approach the more anti-Ukrainian and pro-Russian rhetoric from some members of GOP gets. On Monday April 8, Republican Representative and the two-term lawmaker out of Georgia, Marjorie Taylor Greene, said on Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast, “The Ukrainian government is attacking Christians; the Ukrainian government is executing priests. Russia is not doing that; they’re not attacking Christianity. As a matter of fact, they seem to be protecting it.”

Greene used this supposedly “clear and obvious to many people” fact to justify her refusal to vote for military aid to Ukraine, “So why would we be giving $60 billion to a country in Ukraine that is destroying the Christian faith, persecuting Christians and killing them, ended their elections (they’re not even allowed to vote out Zelensky, even if they wanted to), totally shut down the free and fair press, and have silenced the people in their country and is now drafting young and younger men so they can be slaughtered on the battlefield? I don’t think Americans support that.”[1]

Marjorie Taylor Greene did not bother to give the names of the supposedly executed priests and there is a very simple reason for that: this is a blatant, brazen and shameless lie. You see, Ukraine abolished capital punishment back in 2000 following the Decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine No. 11-rp/99 of December 29, 1999[2], so in Ukraine, a state governed by the rule of law, execution is not possible. Greene doubtless knows this fact, but her propaganda is geared at conservative Christian constituency who obviously is not aware of it and thus would be prone to believe her.

I was born, grew up and lived 44 out of 50 years of my life in Ukraine. I can declare with all responsibility that since the collapse of the Soviet Union Ukraine has enjoyed enormous religious freedom, in some areas more that USA. In the past 30+ years I have not heard of even a hint of religious persecution in Ukraine. The Ukrainian faith community has a strong voice in the government as they united in the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations[3] to defend religious liberty and Christian values in the country. They hold regular meetings with the President, the Prime Minister, and the leadership of relevant government departments and parliamentary factions to participate in drafting laws and regulations on church-state relations and the like. Just recently on April 2^nd, President Zelensky met with the Counsel to express gratitude for the service of chaplains and to request an increase in their number, because our soldiers need spiritual support[4].

Even more shameless and vile is Greene’s lie about Russia “seeming to be protecting” Christianity. Exactly the opposite is true: In every area of Ukraine which the Russians have occupied, they have destroyed churches and killed Christians, especially Baptists and Pentecostals. On December 26, 2023, the head of the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience[5], Viktor Yelensky, said during a national telethon that more than 30 priests were tortured or murdered by the Russian invaders during the occupation of the territories[6]. On February 27, 2022, Russian soldiers murdered the priest of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), Father Maxim Kozachina, to take away his car; they simply pulled him out of the car and shot him. He was the rector of the parish of the Nativity of the of the Holy Virgin in Rozvazhiv village, Ivankiv district, Kyiv region[7].

On March 5, 2022, Russian invaders shot and killed Rostyslav Dudarenko, a priest of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, at a checkpoint in his native village of Yasnohorodka, Byshiv community, Fastiv district, Kyiv region[8].

60-year-old priest Myron Zvarychuk was murdered by the occupiers in March 2022 in Bucha. His body was found after the liberation of the Kyiv region in April of that year at 99 Yablunska Street[9].

On February 15, 2024, the Russian occupiers shot a Ukrainian priest Stepan Podolchak at the occupied village of Kalanchak, Kherson region, for refusing to join the Russian Orthodox Church. He was forcibly dragged out of his house barefoot, put in a bag over his head, and taken away[10].

In November 2022, the Russian invaders in the occupied Kherson Oblast kidnapped a deacon of a Pentecostal Church with his 19-year-old son, Anatoly and Oleksandr Prokopchuk, and brutally tortured them to death in the forest. Their bodies were mutilated beyond recognition. Anatoly and his wife had seven children: a daughter and six sons[11]. The list goes on… For more information on religious persecution by the Russians in Ukraine visit Defenders of Faith and Religious Freedom in Ukraine’s website[1], read Baptist Standard’s article[2], Kyiv Post’s article[3], and Institute for Religious Freedom’s research[4] and report[5].

[1] Defenders Of Faith Ukraine

[2] Stories recorded of Ukrainian Christians tortured by Russia (baptiststandard.com)

[3] Opinion: Faith Leaders Highlight Russian Religious Persecution in Occupied Ukraine (kyivpost.com)

[4] 2022.09-IRF-Ukraine-report-ENG.pdf

[5] 2024.03-IRF-Ukraine-report-ENG-web.pdf

According to the Kyiv-based Institute for Religious Freedom (IRF), as of February 3, 2023, “As a result of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, at least 494 religious buildings, theological institutions, and sacred places were wholly destroyed, damaged, or looted by the Russian military”.[12] According to the Center for Strategic & International Studies, as of February 29th 2024, “Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian forces have been responsible for damaging or destroying at least 660 churches and other religious structures, including at least 206 belonging to Protestants. The largest number of Protestant churches damaged or destroyed have been Pentecostal – 94, Evangelical Christian Baptist – 60, and 7th Day Adventist – 27. And what Russians have not destroyed or seized, they have closed and banned for purposes of worship. For example, in the portions of the Luhansk region under Russian and pro-Russian separatist control, not a single Protestant Church remains open for worship, and in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region, only a handful”.[13]

I will give you just three examples of which I know personally.

When Russians occupied the city of Kherson, they captured Baptist Tavriski Christian Institute, looted all its equipment and burned and thew out all their books. They used the seminary as their military base and a crematorium for burning dead Russians and after the retreat destroyed it. The Institute’s president, Valentyn Syniy, says in his testimonies, “They threatened us, called us fascists and American spies, said that ‘sectarians like you should be buried’ ”.[14]

Grace Baptist Church of Melitopol before and after the occupation

During the occupation of the city of Melitopol, Russians expropriated the building of Grace Baptist Church, burned Christian library of ca. 4,000 books, cut off the cross, repainted the facade featuring famous Russian terrorists “Giva” and “Motorola” and turned it in to “Department of Culture of Zaporizhzhya Region” where they campaign for Putin and dance in the worship hall.[15] The congregation is now dispersed all over the world and Pastor Britsyn (a friend of mine) serves God in the Ukraine-controlled territory.

During the occupation of the city of Irpin, Russian soldiers damaged the buildings of Mission Eurasia and Irpin Baptist Theological Seminary and burned and trashed hundreds of Bibles.[16] This is just a tiny fraction of what happened, but you can see more testimonies of Russian religious war crimes in Ukraine here[17].

This short investigation brings us to the following conclusions:

In her interview far-right Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene demonstrates staunch pro-Russian stance[18] which she also displayed in the past. She popularized in the US the Russian propaganda that the Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine was allegedly a coup d’état. On March 22, 2022 she suggested that Ukraine instigated the Russian invasion[19] thus promoting Russian propaganda and defending Vladimir Putin.[20] In April 2023, Marjorie Taylor Green was among 19 Republicans who sent a letter to US President Joe Biden demanding an end to “unlimited aid to Ukraine by the United States of America.” Since the fall of 2023, Green has been one of the most active politicians in the United States, who are making efforts to block American aid to Ukraine.
Since Greene does not have any well-grounded reasons to be anti-Ukrainian and pro-Russian, she resorted to blatant lies to create one. Thus, not only she degrades to immoral practices in order to support her views, she also employs the very thing in which accuses the supposedly “fake media”. In doing so, she uses an old propaganda technique: accusing the enemy of her own crimes.
Russian propaganda is running rampant in the United States as Russia wages an information war in the West to justify her unprovoked aggression and dissuade the world from supporting Ukraine. Unfortunately, some American politicians, especially those on the right wing, have become the mouthpiece of Russian propaganda[21] who are often quoted by Russian State Media.[22]
Where you see advocates of Russian propaganda, you will likely find Russian ties and funding. In case of Marjorie Taylor Greene, we have found no evidence yet. However, the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, received campaign contributions from American Ethane[23], a company 88% owned by three Russians oligarchs – Mikhail Yuriev, Andrey Kunatbaev, and Konstantin Nikolaev[24]. The latter is known to be a top ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who previously funded a Russian spy Maria Butina[25] and is a co-owner of the Tula Cartridge Plant that supplies very large amounts ammunition to Russian forces during Russia-Ukraine War.[26] Does it give us a clue why Mike Johnson is so strongly opposed to military aid to Ukraine?