Chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, Republican Congressman Joe Wilson, along with several other lawmakers, has introduced the bill “On Countering Russia’s War Against Faith.”
This bipartisan bill requires the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense to jointly report on Russia’s attempts to persecute, suppress, and violate the religious freedoms of believers in Ukraine and in territories occupied by Russia. The bill also mandates that the President impose sanctions on foreign nationals involved in these actions.
“Russia persecutes and kills believers as part of its policy everywhere it invades. War criminal Putin seeks to prevent freedom of religion for all believers and suppresses any faith that does not submit to his state church and the corrupt former KGB agent, Patriarch Kirill, or otherwise comply with repressive state control. Believers in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine are subjected to particularly brutal persecution. It is critically important that we stand up to Russia’s war against faith,” Congressman Wilson said.
According to Democratic Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, Russia’s large-scale religious persecution in Ukraine has lasted for centuries and is a grim reminder that this new war of occupation has never been only about land, but has been tied to forced Russification and the destruction of the pluralistic and free Ukrainian way of life.
“Russia cynically portrays Ukraine as a country that persecutes Christians, even though it is Moscow that has destroyed more than 600 churches, synagogues, mosques, and places of worship in Ukraine during this war. These new attacks are a shameful reminder of Russian pogroms and assaults on religious communities that have taken place over centuries. The United States must hold these war criminals accountable and protect freedom of religion and the right of all Ukrainians to practice their faith according to their beliefs,” Kaptur stated.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, more than 600 churches, synagogues, mosques, and other religious sites have been damaged or destroyed, and more than 50 Ukrainian clergy members have been killed. Protestant, Catholic, Crimean Tatar, and Orthodox Christian communities not affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church have faced raids, forced re-registration, and criminal prosecution. The Russian Orthodox Church, led by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, has publicly called the invasion a “holy war,” providing ideological justification for systematic religious repression in the occupied territories.
As LF reported, the Kremlin is attempting to justify the prolonged war against Ukraine by using long-standing false narratives that “the Ukrainian government suppresses religious freedoms.” This is stated in a report by analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Earlier, we reported that the head of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, praised the efforts of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow aimed at supporting participants in the “special military operation.”
According to LF, in November 2025, Patriarch Kirill Gundyayev stated that military valor is “inseparable” from spiritual valor, and participation in war can be regarded as a form of Christian service. This attempt to justify the war through spiritual rhetoric triggered an immediate and sharp reaction within church circles.
According to Dr. Regina Elsner, a researcher of Eastern Christianity and ecumenism at the University of Münster, the Russian Orthodox Church has become one of the key institutions of mobilization and propaganda.
Earlier, we reported that Pope Leo XIV and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I condemned attempts to use religion to justify violence.
