In December 2025, U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley addressed the Senate to refute claims by representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church alleging persecution of believers by Ukraine. According to him, these assertions are false and constitute part of Russia’s information and propaganda campaign.

“Do not believe anyone who claims that the Russian Orthodox Church has somehow become a victim of religious persecution in this war in Ukraine, which began with Russia’s invasion in February 2022. The Russian Orthodox Church is one of the key perpetrators of persecution against its own fellow Orthodox believers, as well as Catholics, evangelicals, and others”, – Grassley stated.

The senator emphasized that the Russian Orthodox Church has not been a victim of the war; on the contrary, it has played an active role in providing its ideological justification. According to Grassley, the church’s leadership, including Patriarch Kirill Gundyayev, openly blessed the war against Ukraine and thereby became complicit in Russian aggression.

Grassley paid particular attention to the Moscow Patriarchate. He noted that Ukraine has every right to require religious organizations on its territory to cease subordination to the patriarch in Moscow. According to the senator, the Russian Orthodox Church has historically been linked to the KGB and today is directly integrated into Vladimir Putin’s vertical of power, acting not as an independent religious institution but as a political instrument of the Kremlin.

Grassley also cited international studies and analytical reports indicating that the Russian Orthodox Church actively supports the war through propaganda, ritual accompaniment of military actions, diplomatic manipulation, and intelligence activities. All of this, the senator stressed, completely dismantles the myth of a “persecuted church”.

“In September, I drew attention to a report by the Free Russia Foundation entitled ‘The Russian Orthodox Church and the War.’ It shows how this structure supports the invasion of Ukraine through propaganda, rituals for the occupiers, diplomatic manipulation, and espionage”, Grassley said.

The senator separately noted that the overwhelming majority of Orthodox Ukrainians no longer associate themselves with the Moscow Patriarchate and are transferring to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarch. In his view, this is a natural response to the fact that the Moscow Church has effectively identified itself with the war and with Russian state power.

In conclusion, Grassley urged listeners to heed the words of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who, according to him, has made it clear that blessing war harms all of Orthodoxy, because faith cannot serve as a justification for violence and aggression.